12/13/2021
Is there such a thing as spiritual jealousy that can get in the way of our personal pursuit of faith? Are we ever tempted to look at the walk of another and judge either ourselves, or that person? The answer is yes, and there is danger in this because of its effect on our ability to focus on the faith, and salvation, we are personally meant to seek. Faith is as individual as a fingerprint, and as intimately defining as our DNA. Every individual’s walk of faith is perfectly designed by God for he who walks it.
“When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about this man?” Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!””
John 21:21-22 ESV
What we face in life might look similar to that of another, but it is never identical. The cross of the thief who would dine in paradise with Jesus, looked like the cross on which Christ was nailed, but it was not exactly like it, and the cross that Jesus refers to when He tells us to pick up our cross and follow Him is just as unique. So why do we think that we can look at others and judge our walk of faith, or understand theirs?
“And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”
Luke 9:23 ESV
Jesus doesn’t tell us to pick up His cross… He tells us to pick up OUR cross and follow Him. We can be like identical twins who look so much alike that they can’t be distinguished be from the other by the casual observer, but to their mother, and those who know them well their differences become apparent. In our quest to become like Jesus it is the same. We can be good as He is good, obey God’s will just as He obeyed God’s will, and yet, while we can be good, we will not be exactly as good as Jesus, or perfectly like Him as we obey God’s will because we walk different paths through life, and God’s will is made just for us… as witnessed by the gifts we receive.
“Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith;”
Romans 12:6 ESV
So it is that we each walk our certain way, traveling in the same general direction, and obeying the same master, shepherd, Christ, and God, but never walking exactly as those around us who are our traveling companions, or the other sheep in the Lord’s flock. No two sheep walk precisely in one another’s footsteps, and our footsteps of faith are like this too.
“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”
Philippians 2:12-13 ESV
So, although we obey the same commandments, hear the same gospel, and follow the same Jesus as we carry our crosses, we do so in slightly different ways, each walking towards the same final destination but traveling along slightly different routes. How then can we judge ourselves, or one another, by looking at the walk of faith they are in? How can we compare the mountain we are walking up with the valley they are currently traveling through? How does the temptation we have fallen victim to compare with the one they have successfully resisted, or the poverty we face in life determine our faithfulness when compared with the wealth of another?
“So then each of us will give an account of himself to God. Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother.”
Romans 14:12-13 ESV
The intricate details of our walk of faith are known only to God in their entirety. Even we are not privy to all of them regarding our own walk. In consideration of this we aren’t meant to pass judgement on ourselves, others, or accept the judgement of anyone else on us, because none of us can see our lives through the eyes of God accept God Himself.
Prayer:
Father, thank you for our individual walk with you as we travel our personal way of faith. Thank you for the intimate and unique relationship we each have with you, and for the details of them that often go unnoticed by ourselves. Help us Lord to avoid judging others according to the perception we have of our own walk of faith, and help us to resist judging ourselves by comparing our journey to another’s. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God who knows the beginning from the end, and every speck of dust that swirls about our feet as we walk from one to the other. Praised be your name for limiting judgement to yourself, for only you can see our hearts, and the entirety of our walk, as we seek to know you. Merciful are you who has prepared each path for the instruction of the saint that travels it, and not to accommodate all saints as one. Your grace is sufficient for each of us, and we thank you for it. We follow after your Son Jesus, and carry our crosses as He did His… longing for the moment of His return, and washing every day in His atoning blood. Teach us to be merciful towards one another as you are towards us, and give us a measure of your grace for those who walk in faith about us.
“One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; for it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.””
Romans 14:5-11 ESV
Rich Forbes