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God First, Man Second: New Year's Series



I'm judgmental. There, I said it. I'm pretty bad about it as well. Oh, I don't often say things out loud, but I'm judging. I can't tell you how many times I've judged a person because of some pattern of living they have, only to be reminded of God's grace. But even in the view of grace, I return to judgment fairly quickly, piously reminding myself that people still have consequences to live with. 


There may be consequences, but that really shouldn't be my concern. How I deal with people should reflect God's grace. Period. This was Paul's point in 2 Corinthians. 


So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 2 Corinthians 5:16-18


Like all scripture, this is about God first and man second. So what do we see God doing? Reconciling. And God is getting it done, in amazing ways. God loves reconciling so much that He has given us this as a ministry. It's like sharing your favorite hobbies with your friends. 


I think we might experience better relationships across the board if we took this way of living to heart. Stop judging people in a worldly way. See people as new creations. Work more on reconciling people with God. 


Hmmm, there might be something to this. 


How about you? What goes on in your head regarding other people?
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