So, it's finally 2016!
For the past month or so, I have read countless posts on Facebook from numerous people about who they are "cutting off" in 2016...and sadly, most of those people are Christians. Now don't get me wrong, I get it...I get that not everyone can rock with you in every season. There have been people along the way I've had to simply let go of...some of my friendships have had quiet seasons until God brought me to place where I was able to effectively be a light in a dark place....but to see SO MANY posts about cutting people off has left me frustrated and so sad.
Matthew 5:15-16 (NLT)
"No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father"
There are so many people in this world who are hurt, lost, confused and broken and we are busy cutting them off because they aren't saved? Because they are doing things we may not be doing? So many times I have heard, "they aren't going where I'm going!" Since when is it all about you? Since when is it all about me? Aren't we going to heaven? Don't we want others to come along with us? I swear y'all these posts have left me heart broken, to the point of literal tears. I think about my family, my friends, my amazing co-workers....the people in my circle that don't know Christ and how much He loves them and cares for them despite their pain, their heartaches and their troubles. Life is hard, let's not make it any harder.
Plus, why wait until the New Year to officially cut these people off? We should be intentional year round about being Spirit led...and not all of a sudden stop talking to folks when the New Year starts. I don't want to stand before God one day and have Him ask me about those people I left back in 2015 and why I didn't let my light shine in the midst of their darkness. Use discernment and be Spirit led....I'm most definitely not telling you to keep a (wo)man in your bed that has not paid the price for you called marriage...so honey/sir, this is not your confirmation.
And I get it....some friendships aren't always healthy. I went through a quiet season with a friend of mine who isn't saved...and for the longest time I thought God was protecting me from her because of her lifestyle...but in the end...it turns out that God was protecting her from my religious mindset. I wanted to force Jesus down everyone's throat....but that's not how it works. God had to grow me to a place where I could relate to others and meet them in a place where they are at to effectively love them. No one is ever saved because they were rejected by a Christian that proclaims the love of Christ. I used to be able to tell people all day, "God loves you!" yet fail to actually love them...but actions speak louder than words. Just sayin'.
If God has truly, prayerfully led you to let go of some people, by all means do what you need to do. But be prayerful instead of irrationally cutting people off that you could potentially lead to the Lord. I say this from experience because there was a time in my life I was most definitely not saved and had absolutely zero relationship with Christ and most likely wanted nothing to do with Him...one of my now closest friends (Hi, Jenny!) could have chosen to "cut me off "because of the way I was living, but she didn't. She chose to stand by me, to accept me, to love me despite of me and let her light shine in the midst of my darkness. She didn't cut me off, nor did she condemn me and force Christ on me. She made me curious about her faith. She made me want to know the God she served.
Jude 1:22-23
"Go easy on those who hesitate in the faith. Go after those who take the wrong way. Be tender with sinners, but not soft on sin. The sin itself stinks to high heaven."
How can we go after anyone going the wrong way
when we have decided to cut them off? It's the sin ITSELF that stinks....not the person...they are still created in the image of God just like you and I.
My forever friend (Jenny) who let her light shine
Cheers to a brand new year to let your light shine for Jesus and leaving no man behind!
Love,
Beth
