5:41 – Law & Order & Forgiveness

#faithbites #faithjourney order

Intro

I like and need laws and rules because they provide order. I can be a very black and white person when it comes to the law. Both God’s law and man’s law are there to protect us and help guide us. Laws also have power, in that, if you know the rules, you can work with them. (It’s one reason I love parliamentary procedure). When people choose not to follow the rules or obey laws, to me, it seems that they feel they are above the law. That is arrogance and hubris which is not acceptable. (Again, this is from my perspective as a black and white person).

That being said, not all laws are just. Many are morally wrong and need to be fought and changed through the appropriate process. (What that appropriate process is, is a discussion for another day.)

I believe in law and order and forgiveness. In this particular case, I read the law wrong, made an assertion that was hurtful and harmful, and I need forgiveness. I’m blessed that Christ will forgive us and pray for forgiveness for my actions and false assertation.

Questions

• What can you do to balance law, order, and personal opinion or freedom?
• How does our faith help us when we see laws that are unjust?
• How do we seek harmony between personal freedom, God’s law, and man’s law?
• What can we do to see beyond the black and white to ask forgiveness when we are wrong?

Scripture

• Romans 2:13 – For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified.
• 1 Peter 2:13-17 – ¹³ Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, ¹⁴ or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. ¹⁵ For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. ¹⁶ Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. ¹⁷ Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.
• Ephesians 4:32 – “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”
• 1 John 1:9 – If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Reflection

We started this #faithbites, with a theme of law and order and a black and white perspective. While I still have concerns about decisions made, they are based on more subjective rather than objective grounds. This is an area for discussion, community, and growth. It isn’t black and white. And yes, most things aren’t black and white. While that is true, it also doesn’t mean we pick and chose what laws we follow and which ones we don’t. This is a very complex topic and one we can dive into in the future.

The most wonderful thing about our faith is that we have a Father and a Savior who know we are broken and make mistakes. Jesus forgives our sins when we confess to him. In this case, because of my need for law and order, I fought on a law I read wrong and was misguided. My beliefs were shaken based on that false interpretation, and later thanks to friends helping me see the letter of the law, I saw I was very wrong. I asked the people involved for forgiveness as well as from God. I know he will give it and I hope others will too.

As we close, remember God’s laws provide order, direction, and protection. Man’s law attempts to do the same but can be faulty both in language and intent. At the same time, remember that everyone sees things differently and we need to have forgiveness for when we are wrong. Jesus freely gives forgiveness, do you?

Prayer

Lord God, we pray for healing. There are many of us that are hurting emotionally, physically, and spiritually. Lord, we thank you for providing friends to help us understand where our understanding is wrong and help us go beyond the black and white. Father, help us and forgive us when we don’t obey your laws. Forgive us when we make wrong assumptions and hurt those we love. You have told us that if we confess our sins, we will be forgiven. We pray all of this in your name, Amen.