Contempt

via TJC

"Pick me up and throw me into the sea," he replied, "and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you." Jonah 1:12

In the book of Jonah, I discovered a man filled with so much contempt for his enemies that he’d rather stand by and let God kill them, rather than deliver a message of repentance and give them a second chance to avoid God’s wrath.

In fact, Jonah not only ran the other way to avoid his God given mission, but he was also so upset at the idea of his enemies getting another chance that he would have rather died than play a part in it.

God calls us to tell others of His laws and His judgment, but to use love as our motivator to do so, not resentment.

For more than a decade, I found myself arguing with others on Facebook about politically charged subjects like gay marriage, abortion, immigration issues and political leaders. Often, those arguments would lead to losing connections to friends and even family members because my debates would come from a place of self-righteousness, where getting in a “gotcha” or getting the last word became the end goal, rather sharing a message for discipling or disciple building.

I found myself being led to leave the platform nearly 3 years ago because, among other reasons, I often may have been doing more harm than good to those I interacted with.

Since then, I prefer to meet with people face to face, and from a position of sharing, caring and empathy. God has a plan for me to share His Word with others, but in His way, not mine.

Daily Battle Order:

Simply pray to God today and ask Him “Am I following Your mission for me in Your way, or mine?

His mission will be done. Choose to find joy and peace by doing it His way, rather than resentment and indignation on doing it your.