
Good Evening to All!

Today's Seed: "But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people and the sword comes and takes the life of one of them, that man will be taken away because of his sin, but I will hold the watchman accountable for his blood."
Ezekiel 33:6
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Just reading this seed can cause us to shudder. We can be held accountable for not

Most of us have a hard enough time keeping ourselves accountable to God. Yet is is plain that God intended for us to support and to hold accountable those who are in our lives. It's easy for parents to expect children to be accountable, but it's harder to accept our duty of accountability to others. Another challenge is to allow others to hold us accountable, to accept constructive criticism. Accountability has two sides--giving advice and receiving it.
Friendship is one of the primary relationships where we should support one another by holding each other accountable. Instead, we often gossip or complain about he actions of a friend. That makes two who are doing the wrong thing. It takes courage to lovingly confront a friend and time to listen to her side, but if we make the effort we may succeed in warning a friend of danger.




Think about it: List things that can happen if we fail to warn a friend of danger.
Which is harder for you--to give advice or to take it?


I have always worried about telling others about the dangers of sin at the risk of sounding judgmental. Years ago, a preacher used to point out things I did which he thought were sinful and tell me about them. I quickly learned to dislike going to church, or being around "Christians". I have never taken criticism very well, constructive or otherwise, because for some reason people have a tendency to sound condescending or judgmental when they say things of a critical nature. I have a "thing" about being told "I'm going to hell if I do this or that, or don't quit doing this or that. Also, my attitude might have something to do with being told how dumb I sound, how dingy I am, how ignorant can I be...you get the picture. Anyway, I don't want people feeling the same way when I talk to them, so I hesitate about talking about the dangers of sin. If I am talking to someone and the subject is brought up, then I will find a way to broach the subject in a normal conversation and using My opinion as the basis. I might say, " you might do better if you do such and such rather than this, or I've found that I seem to get more blessings from God if I don't do this or that. I never say "you're in danger of dying a spiritual death if you continue doing this or that. I don't feel it's my call to say that, but after reading this devotional, I guess I need to pay more attention to people and find ways to tell them without hurting their feelings, being condescending, judgmental, or critical. Any other ideas?
Good Night to All and May God Bless!


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