“I guess what I’m saying is that, while I see your points, I respectfully disagree. And that’s ok. [wink face].”
Would you believe me if I said that was a text message I received from a fellow believer on October 30, 2020?
On this particular Friday, my dear friend had asked me to suss out my thoughts on some political hot topics. To say I felt apprehensive as questions flew and the telltale ellipses bobbed on my screen is an understatement.
Genuine discussion is rare in our culture, even, or sometimes especially so, in Christian community. So I was nervous to risk a friendship. It often seems that animosity rules the day more than brotherly affection, and social media comments reveal more “bit[ing] and devour[ing]” (Galatians 5:15) than “faithful love and compassion” (Zechariah 7:9).
At the end of the day, we did not agree with each other’s conclusions. Yet, we both agreed that we respected each other’s heart and love for Jesus as displayed through our lives and not our votes. The following week we made plans to go out for dinner; our friendship had survived, and though disagreement existed, division did not rule the day.
James 4 shows us how this seeming contradiction is possible: the majority of the chapter is spent on orienting ourselves in a posture of humility, not towards others, but towards God! See, if we hold a correct view of our individual relationship to God, it will change how we interact with one another.
“Submit to God,” James tells us in verse 7; “draw near to God” (James 4:8); “humble yourselves before the Lord” (v.10)—all of these actions lay the foundation for this culminating, simple instruction shared in verse 11: “Don’t criticize one another, brothers and sisters.” We cannot be successful in this pursuit apart from submission to God. James goes on in chapter 5 to remind us that if our focus is where it should be, it becomes much more difficult to complain about others.
If we live in submission to the Spirit with a genuine awareness of His presence, we will not be prone to complain about one another. Our hearts will be changed.
James closes chapter 4 with a searing inquiry: “Who are you to judge your neighbor?” (v.12). To judge or criticize another, we must assume an awful lot about our own knowledge; but, remember, it is God alone who can “save” and “destroy” (v.12).
Be encouraged—God “gives grace to the humble” (v.6). Grace to uplift and not to criticize; in doing so, we show the world a better way, one of “faithful love and compassion” (Zechariah 7:9).
Goodness, am I thankful for all the honesty in the comments. I’ve been so upset with myself the past two days because I’ve been gossiping a lot with my coworker about the issues I have with management at work. Things I’ve been praying about, but also, struggling with the past few months. I felt comfortable to be honest with my co-worker but it led to gossip…
and I’m really upset with myself because this girl has been through so much with her family misrepresenting a relationship with Christ to her. I don’t want to contribute to that! I don’t know if she’s saved.
That is not like me. As I read the comments, I feel less alone in failing to imitate Christ in my workplace.
May God help us be faithful, as I feel that is what He has highlighted to me, today. “Be faithfully in love with your co-workers.” the sad part is that I was gossiping about another believer :( May the Holy Spirit work in me and help me to be more faithful than I have, this week. I can do nothing without Christ who gives me strength.
I know I am forgiven. May I trust God to help me with relationships and things I perceive to be unfair.
Also,really enjoyed your story today Elaine… I pray God will redeem messes I make, too!
Sisters, my heart is breaking today. I love my local church and feel like it is breaking apart before my eyes. Our pastor just resigned—the second one in just over a year—and while he said it wasn’t about the church, I don’t fully believe him. I’m the youngest person on our church board, and I feel useless. How can we find and confront the people creating division while avoiding judgment and complaints? It seems impossible. Today is a timely reminder that submission to God comes first; all else comes after. Your prayers would be appreciated as we go through a period of reflection, healing, and growth.
Avoiding division…what does this mean to me? Before I retired, I spent a lot of time complaining, blaming, and sometimes shaming. I thought I was a decent Christian then. I went to church, volunteered, and tithed. Boy was I misled. Fast forward 10 years and I find that my heart has softened and I work hard daily to keep the Lord at the forefront of my life. No more gossiping, griping, and punishing others. No more two-faced interactions with people. The Holy Spirit is truly at work in me.
Like many churches today, my small town church has lost many regular attenders and members. Praying for my pastor in these difficult times – for strength to continue God’s work and to ignore criticism and discontent. May we all stay focused on One Another and appreciate the gifts before us this week.
Thank you @Angie for the beautiful visual image of the fall leaves. Your words will remain with me while I’m out and about today seeing the beauty of fall.
Guys this convicted me this morning. I have been struggling with how I am being treated at work. It’s definetly hardened my heart towards them. I need to forgive them so I can be light to those who need Jesus. God, please forgive my hardened heart against my place of employment. Help me to forgive them so I can be light and point others to you.
I played this message by Alistair Begg recently. I was reminded of this because of the Scripture above. The title is called: Sin is Serious and Hell is Real. Has anyone listened to him before? I think you will find him to be a good one to listen to. Here is a link: https://youtu.be/bQjJfgdIllA
This is such a hard word. How easy is it to fall into grumbling, complaining, undercutting, gossip?? I work around women most of the time. Can I be frank? We can talk too much sometimes. There was a woman who retired, and she radiated Jesus in that space. How? By speaking with joy, love and walking away from any conversation that was negative. She didn’t even have to tell people she loved Jesus. It was obvious because she was different.
Am I different?
Do I walk away even if people misjudge my actions?
Do I lead people to love?
God, help me to live as You call me to live.
Hello. This is my first comment but I have been doing the studies for about 7 months (and did them years ago as well.) I have been so encouraged and convicted by the Scripture reading, devotionals, podcasts, and community comments. Thank you to all who participate. The Covid season was particularly hard for me in terms of division. It really rattled me to all of the sudden find myself in disagreement with people with people who I had always been on the same “side” as. I didn’t handle it well at all first. Slowly God has been working on my heart and repairing relationships and I am learning the beauty of diversity and the unity of the Gospel. But even with all of the work God has done in me, I caught myself sending a judgmental text to my mom about how another family member is handling a Covid issue in relationship to Thanksgiving- and this is while I was reading today’s Bible passages. Ugh! Praying the conviction of the Holy Spirit causes me to truly repent!