I’M WORRIED ABOUT YOU!

I’M WORRIED ABOUT YOU!

2 Cor 12:18-21

18 I desired Titus, and with him I sent a brother. Did Titus make a gain of you? walked we not in the same spirit? walked we not in the same steps?

19 Again, think ye that we excuse ourselves unto you? we speak before God in Christ: but we do all things, dearly beloved, for your edifying.

20 For I fear, lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I would, and that I shall be found unto you such as ye would not: lest there be debates, envyings, wraths, strifes, backbitings, whisperings, swellings, tumults:

21 And lest, when I come again, my God will humble me among you, and that I shall bewail many which have sinned already, and have not repented of the uncleanness and fornication and lasciviousness which they have committed.

Gal 4:11

11 I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.

          Truth, when not well received, may become a wedge between the speaker and the hearer. Paul had dealt with an extreme moral error in his first address to the Corinthians. It was painful, yet the Corinthians recognized their need to deal with it. In 2 Corinthians 7:11 Paul indicates that they had “cleared themselves,” or acted appropriately, in the matter.

          Dealing with difficulty, however, may produce lingering conflict because alliances have been formed with wrong and some do not want to abandon that wrong. Even when it is clear what is right, some may be offended when it is pointed out. The estrangement festers.

          A similar situation happened with the Galatians. This time it was not a moral problem but a doctrinal error. The Galatians were being enticed to return to legalism and to abandon grace. Paul likened it to being bewitched in Galatians 3:1. The love that would have ripped out their own eyes to give to the failing eyesight of Paul had cooled. Warren Wiersbe comments on this: “Now Paul asks them: "What has happened to that love? What has happened to the blessedness - the happiness - you experienced when you heard the Gospel and trusted Christ?" Of course, Paul knew what had happened the Judaizers had come in and stolen their hearts.” Paul finally asks them, in Galatians 4:16, “Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?”

          If your shepherd warns you against certain danger, do not grieve for the wolf. Do not long for the days when you happily did wrong. Do not count your friend as your enemy. Ask God to remove the scales form your eyes so that you may see clearly. Do what is right and do not pout because someone pointed out error.

Heb 13:17

17 Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.

Dear Lord, my shepherd is my friend not because he agrees with my error but because he watches for my soul. Help me as I pray for him and submit to his leadership. AMEN