Don’t Kick Me When I’m Down

“I’m lost, hurting and broken. I need Love. I need deliverance. I need to find out who I am. I need to know what the meaning of my life is. Help me, Please.”

This is the silent heart-cry of so many people, evidenced by their self-destructive behavior and contradictory words regarding who they say they are. These people have had troubled childhoods, have been abused and abandoned. In many cases all they need is someone who will truly show them the Love of God, pray for them and point them in the right direction to get the help they need.

Instead they get the cold shoulder or worse, the very people commissioned to help them condemn them to hell. They chant words like “disgrace” and “abomination” in an attempt to conjure up a hellstorm of fire and brimstone upon the heads of these poor souls. Where is our compassion? Are we so holy and righteous that we forgot how filthy we are without the Blood of Jesus?

Instead of sending everyone else to hell, what are we doing about the sin in our own lives? If they are a disgrace, then every one of us is a disgrace! Has your heart been broken and ripped into pieces? Have you ever been confused about your identity or place in the world? Have you ever felt rejected by people close to you? Have you ever questioned God about the seeming hopelessness of your life?

Even if you answered ‘no’ to all of the above questions, the truth remains that none of us have or ever will achieve perfection. If we are honest with ourselves we know that when we are all alone and have no one to impress, we are painfully aware of our shortcomings. Some people avoid quiet alone time for that very reason – they don’t want to allow the possibility of being faced with the truth. As long as the TV is on we can shake our heads at what Kanye or the celebrity du jour is doing rather than address the mess going on in our own life.

We must depend on the Lord daily to help with our areas of weakness. God wants us to depend on Him. The moment we think we have it all together is when we think we don’t need God. That is a dangerous place to be in. You are in a state of being deceived if you think you can be holy all by yourself.

We should forever strive to do better and have compassion for our brothers and sisters in their struggle. If only we could rally around each other when we struggle in our faith instead of kicking people out of the fold. The Blood of Jesus works for everyone, even if it has already been applied ten times. Heed the Word of God: whether you live in sin or fail to walk in love, the result is the same: you are not God’s child. Let us walk in love and practice righteousness that we may be right with the Father.

1 John 3:10 (New King James Version)

In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother.