New Attitude

Prov.4:²³ (TPT) “So above all, guard the affections of your heart, for they affect all that you are. Pay attention to the welfare of your innermost being, for from there flows the wellspring of life

If some Christians were to step into some of our local churches today, they would tell everyone, beginning with the Pastor, to get sanctified. How can you wear Jeans in Church, ministering on the altar of the Most High God? You need sanctification because this proves that you are definitely not even saved? How can women wear artificial hair and wigs and be allowed into church? They are going to hell. Guess what? That kind of attitude is arrogance; a part of the body feeling they are better off because of some level of knowledge they have. If we are not careful, we can fall into the same trap. There is nothing that we have that has not been given to us.

The fact that somebody does not worship Jesus like you do does not mean the person is going to hell. You cannot insist that everybody should be quiet because you are quiet. In God’s Favourite House, we can get pretty loud when we are praising God. It would be wrong to conclude that something is wrong with us just because it does not align with your way of doing things. We also have to be careful because old Christians have this same attitude towards new Christians. Newer people get saved and God is lavishing His grace on them, but you are getting upset. Why? We have been here since. New ministers are anointed in church, and they are mostly people that just joined the church and you are upset. Why? We started this church and we have been here since inception. It is pure arrogance and that was the problem of the Jews.

Jesus gave this parable (Matt.20); in the morning, a farm owner called some people to work for him. At noon he went around and saw people wasting time and he invited them to work for him promising to give them what is right.  At three o’ clock, he did the same thing. At quarter to closing, he saw some people and invited them to work on the farm promising to give them what is right. At the end of the day, starting with the newest hands, he paid them all a full day’s pay. The older hands who collected their pay last were also given a full day’s wage and they were angry. ‘We have been here, how can we be getting the same pay?’ If the master had given the newer hands a tenth of what the older hands collected, they would have been happier. But it still did not make them get more. It just shows hypocrisy and arrogance Pharisees-ism in the heart of people.

Thought: If God is blessing your neighbour, rejoice because He is in your neighbourhood!

Prayer: Father, help me to guard the affections of my heart and to pay attention to the welfare of my innermost being so that my heart will always be right, in Jesus Name. Amen!