Worth Repeating - March 31, 2017

I Samuel 12: 20, 23 “You have done all this evil; yet do not turn away from the Lord. . . . As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by failing to pray for you. And I will teach you the way that is good and right.” (NIV)

Our commitment to pray for people struggling with sin will significantly impact their spiritual growth.  When we let them know we are supporting them with our prayers, not only will they grow in their faith, but we will also experience the encouragement we need to persevere.*

The Children of Israel stand accused and ready for judgment. We might say that Samuel took the high road in not condemning them for the evil they have committed. But more than that, we see that he chose to take the higher road – he encouraged them, he counseled them, and he interceded for them. As their spiritual leader, Samuel vowed to pray for them and to teach them what they should be doing. His instructions to them included: don’t be afraid; serve the Lord; don’t turn to idols. And he reminded them of the dire consequences of persisting in their evil behavior.

There are a couple of common mistakes we make when dealing with a wayward child of God. The first is to condemn him and to require penance from him. We want to make sure he suffers for his sin so we impose penalties that God never sanctioned. The second common mistake is almost the opposite of the first: we play down the gravity of the sin. We make excuses for the sinner because we don’t want him to feel bad about himself.

Samuel didn’t pretend that the sin of his people was no big deal, but neither did he dwell on what couldn’t be undone. Samuel was all about acknowledging the sin and moving on to active repentance. The Samaritan woman at the well is an example of how Jesus models a similar pattern for us. (Read about it in John chapter 4.) Rather than harp on what she was doing wrong (and she knew it was wrong), Jesus offered her an alternative. He didn’t pretend not to notice her sin but, like Samuel in this passage, he proceeded to teach her the way that is good and right.

When we are tempted to be judgmental or to make excuses for sin, let’s take Samuel’s words to heart: “Far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by failing to pray for you.”

We do not want people to feel bad – but sin should make one feel bad.*