A Friend's Rebuke - April 8 Readings: Deuteronomy 28, Luke 8:16–39, Psalm 44:15–21, Proverbs 9:6–8

Links to April 8 Readings: Deuteronomy28, Luke 8:16–39, Psalm44:15–21, Proverbs 9:6–8

A friend took me out to eat a while back for a little “fellowship." This was a friend from high school with whom I had only recently reconnected. I was actually doing some ministry where he lived and worked and he was my host. It was great to catch up and renew our friendship.

But then, that day, he dropped a bomb on me. I don’t remember his exact words, but his message was clear. “Dave, you make a lot of jokes about your weight, but maybe you should start taking this a little more seriously.” He is my age, but a highly conditioned athlete who has remained remarkably fit through the years. I probably have more fat on my left calf than he has in his whole body. He was not harsh or condemning, but as a friend and brother in Christ, he reproved me for my cavalier attitude about my weight problem.

Now, I had a choice how to respond to that. Many times I would have gotten defensive or angry – who was he with his metabolism and athletic ability to judge me? Who died and left him in charge of my life? More than once I have taken that route. 

But that day, the Spirit used his words to bring conviction to me. For once, I responded more in line with Proverbs 6:8. “Reprove a wise man and he will love you.” I thought to myself, here is a friend who has the boldness to tell me what I really need to hear; to reprove me when I needed reproof instead of patting me on the back and helping me justify my foolish lifestyle.

A true friend speaks the truth even if it is not something you want to hear. A true friend doesn’t tell you “you are perfect just as you are” when your lifestyle is degrading your own life and perhaps taking you to an early grave.  Those of us who struggle with sin and bad choices need to hear two truths – truths that can seem to stand in opposition to each other but both of which are essential to a godly view of ourselves!

1) We are loved and accepted by God as we are. God doesn’t love me less because I struggle with something like my weight and will not love me more if I become skinny. I am accepted in Christ and am clothed in his righteousness. Whatever the struggle is in your life, it is important to remember that you are not trying to earn God's favor or gain God's acceptance. We have that in Christ based on his work, not ours. 

2) Sin is destructive and we ought not wink at it. Overeating and under-exercising makes my life more difficult and shortens my years here on earth. Being 100 pounds overweight is no joke and my friend was acting in love when he called me on it. I need to face my failure in the power of God and the self-control produced by the Holy Spirit and work to lose those pounds that hold me down.

You may have what we used to call a "besetting sin" - one sin you struggle with more than any other. Your sin may be lust or pornography, perhaps a struggle with anger, the pull of materialism - any of the sins of the this world. We must realize that sin of any sort, and bad choices as well, not only are contrary to God's will but destructive to our own lives. 

We must walk in the balance between those truths. We are accepted in Christ but we must never accept sin as something that is okay. 

Lord, thank you for loving me as I am and also loving me enough to empower me to change! May I rest in Christ but never accept my sin or folly!