Christ our Shepherd

Many of us have made the decision to severe our relationships with people that do not "add value" to our lives, even our fellow believers. We want to surround ourselves with those that can "add value" so that we can move ahead in life. So many quotes, even by men of God, advocate this. But how do we even know who will add value to us without trying them out first? Do this category of people have haloes above their heads?

Even though we've all heard that "the arm of flesh will fail," we still get disappointed when these "people of value" fail us. We find that they are just as fallible as those ones that we deliberately cut out of our lives. The truth is we tend to hate in people what we have in ourselves. Jesus shows us in this in Matthew 7:3-5:

3 And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? 5 Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye."

We never once consider that we could be one of the people that others want to delete from their lives. Truly, the arm of flesh will fail.

Only our Saviour Jesus can sympathise with our weaknesses. Only He understands. Only He can add that value that we so desire and uplift us. We and our fellow humans are of ourselves flawed and so cannot.

Whether our excuses for our behaviour are valid or not does not matter to our Saviour. He never condemns us. He will never drop us for someone that can "add value." Rather, His Spirit transforms us to the image of His glory from glory to glory (1 Corinthians 3:18.) Trust in Him alone to fill you with value and enable you to share with others:)

As He transforms us to the image of His glory, our actions automatically fall in line with His. His grace makes it hard for us to condemn our brother for having a speck in his eye, because our own eyes have been "un-planked" by the Lord to see that "that would be me if it wasn't for God's grace."

Like our Saviour Jesus Christ in Matthew 9:36, when we see the crowd confused and scattered away from the path of righteousness, instead of being judgy and "cutting them off," we have compassion on them because we see sheep without a Shepherd:

"36 But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd."

So instead of condemning God's beloved who are going astray, telling them to find their way back on their own with more rules and regulations (the Law) that cannot make any righteous in God's sight (Romans 3:20,) or deleting them from our lives, by His grace, we point them to the Lord our Shepherd (Grace!) who leads us on the path of righteousness; the One that God sent not to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved (John 3:17)

"We love because He first loved us." The more we realise just how much we mean to our Saviour Jesus Christ, how loved we are by Him, the more we love.

The Holy Spirit will teach you all things.

Believe Right and you will Live Right.