Read the Word:
James 4:11-12
Meditate on the Word:
A couple of years ago, boxer Mike Tyson posted, “Social media made y’all way too comfortable with disrespecting people and not getting punched in the face for it.” A cursory look through my Facebook feed seems to confirm Tyson’s claim. The world has certainly gotten less civil since the advent of the internet. And many of our brothers and sisters in Christ have gotten themselves tangled in the World Wide Web, fighting anyone who will dare to enter the arena. I can remember a couple of years ago when I, a Southern Baptist pastor, in an online group of Southern Baptist pastors, was called names for a position that I held that was entirely consistent with Scripture.
I see this among my “friends.” I put this in quotes, because I wonder, was I ever really friends with someone who would argue and slander other believers in a public forum? Have I perhaps participated in the online arguing and vitriol? Yes, but as the result of conviction by the Holy Spirit, I have repented of that behavior. The words of our Lord’s brother James nearly two millennia ago still hold true. “Anyone who defames (speaks evil) or judges a fellow believer defames and judges the law.” May we remember this in our interactions today.
Pray the Word:
Ask our Lord to reveal to you if you have been unduly critical of a brother or sister. If you have, repent.
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