Hurting God’s feelings?
In other words, grieving the Holy Spirit
And grieve not the holy Spirit of God,
whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Ephesians 4:30
Gulp
This morning, I was thinking about how I hurt someone’s feelings yesterday
Then, I was thinking about just the day before
how I had judged someone else for hurting someone’s feelings
and thought what a terrible, horrible person she was
A harsh judgment on my part
It was like an instantaneous judgment for me
You who judge, do you not do the same things?
Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man,
whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another,
thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things.
Romans 2:1
God reminded me of the conversation and what I had said
and how I had judged a lady for something she said
God then let me know,
“You hurt My feelings when you intentionally hurt others”
Ouch
Do this unto the least of these, you have done it unto Me
is one of the scriptures that would reflect that sentiment in the word
And, the command, Love your neighbor as yourself
or, If you say you love God and hate your brother, you are a liar
Big Sigh
Gossip and slander are not pleasing to God
We might as well take a huge sword and cut them
We can cause wounds, whether they know about it or not
We can harm their reputation, cause others to think differently of them
It is 2 of the 7 things the Lord hates: Hands that shed innocent blood
and he who causes dissention among the brethren
The children of God are peacemakers
They cover the sins of others, perhaps exposing them to the Lord in prayer,
but, of course, God already knows and sees,
so it’s not exposing anything to the Lord
Our flesh is so ugly sometimes, so self-righteous
It must put us on a plateau of human goodness
that feels good for a moment,
yet once you hear from God about the matter,
you fall down off that plateau pretty fast, plunk
We are to always count others better than ourselves
Remember that Mercy is greater than Judgment
Make efforts to cover others’ sins and not expose them to the world
like the unrighteous attitude of Noah’s son
who tried to point out his father’s nakedness and show his two brothers
The brothers refused to look
and instead, covered their father with a blanket without looking
Canaan received a curse from his father
We have to be careful because by judging others without mercy,
or by exposing their sin to others to make them look bad,
we can be separated from God’s mercy
That does not sound good to be separated from God’s mercy
How can we ask God for something we have refused to give?
Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. Matthew 5:7
Scriptural References:
And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you,
Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren,
ye have done it unto Me. Matthew 25:40
And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,
and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
And the second is like, namely this,
Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
There is none other commandment greater than these.
Mark 12:30-31
If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar:
for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen,
how can he love God whom he hath not seen?
1 John 4:20
These six things doth the Lord hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him:
A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,
An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations,
feet that be swift in running to mischief,
A false witness that speaketh lies,
and he that soweth discord among brethren.
Proverbs 6:16-19
Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
Matthew 5:9
Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory;
but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.
Philippians 2:3
For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy.
Mercy triumphs over judgment.
James 2:13
And above all things have fervent love for one another,
for “love will cover a multitude of sins.”
1 Peter 4:8
And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard:
And he drank of the wine, and was drunken;
and he was uncovered within his tent.
And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father,
and told his two brethren without.
And Shem and Japheth took a garment,
and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward,
and covered the nakedness of their father;
and their faces were backward,
and they saw not their father’s nakedness.
And Noah awoke from his wine,
and knew what his younger son had done unto him.
And he said, Cursed be Canaan;
a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.
Genesis 9:20-24