1 Peter 2: 11Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. 12Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.
So much is packed in these two verses for me personally.
I encourage my kids....to not let the 'world' affect them(be in it, not of it) , but in a recent discussion with my son, I told him, we need to be inclusive to folks who are lost, not accepting their worldly behaviors, but accepting them as people on a journey. My son, truly has done a pretty god job....living as an alien, but he has, in effect, alienated himself from kids who cuss, and make other bad choices, and worse yet, he writes them off. I told him we need to love people, so that they see the love of Christ in us. And that includes, having them be a part of some of what we have going on, so that they CAN SEE.
God, where is that line? How can I, encourage my kids.....myself even to interact with those who are OBVIOUSLY not living a life for you. Benton is so solid....but also black and white....I love that about him. How can I direct him differently? Because there truly is a WAR against my soul, his soul.
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Great thoughts -I grew up solid and black and white too and that did not change for years. The sad thing is - I lost out on many opportunities to love on people who were different from me (ie. the ones who cussed, and drank, etc...). So, my sin of choice growing up was not doing all the "bad things" but was self-righteousness - no less a sin. I am glad that the Lord has worked on me and allowed me to be more open to accept and love those different from me.
Benton has such a great heart and is a shepherd that will be used to spur many others on in the Kingdom.
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