The Fallen

The other night I was reading one of my daily devotionals called Discovering God's Daily Agenda, and the scripture of the day was Obadiah 1:11. I just want to quote some of the devo to you,

"What is your reaction to newspaper headlines about the CEO whose empire has crumbled due to unethical accounting practices? What about the athlete whose career ended abruptly due to a test that came back positive for steroids? How about the family down the street whose teenage son--unsupervised by his parents for so many years--was just arrested?

Our own heart's condition is revealed by how we treat those who have fallen. A hardened heart is indifferent about, or even rejoices in, another's calamity. A contrite heart--a heart that knows its own sin, that knows that 'there but for the grace of God go I,' a heart filled with Christlike compassion and love--breaks for those who stumble.

How does one's heart become more like Christ's? God is the One who opens our eyes to our own sin and pride... by bringing us to the cross to ponder the price paid for our sins... and by washing us clean with His forgiving love. A heart humbled by its own sin extends grace and love rather than judgment to those who fall."

I love that last line. That devotional really struck home with me, and I think that it probably does with most people. I feel as though I have been on the "fallen" side of things the past couple years, and it is so hard to be kicked when you're down. The only thing that would get me through was Christ's love and Him extending His love through my family.

I catch myself a lot lately thinking, "I don't know the whole story," or "Who am I?". I have countless times judged and criticized others for their shortcomings, but who am I to do so? Isn't the act of judging another person a shortcoming in itself?

We need to extend Christ's love especially to those who have fallen and those who are struggling. We've all had low points and just think of how it felt when Christ's love was shown through someone, and then think of how it felt when it wasn't. Let's work to fill our heart's with Christ's love so we can be the high point during someone's struggle by showing them God's grace instead of throwing another stone and being the reason they stay down longer.

We need to LOVE. Not only people we personally know but everyone. Strangers. Celebrities. Everyone seems to have an opinion on the lives of movie stars, athletes, musicians, etc.--especially me sometimes. In the words of the great Michael Jackson, "People don't stop to think what they're saying sometime and the effect it can have on a person." No matter how famous or how rich, everyone is just a human, a sinning human, but still very much deserving of the love of our Savior.

All in all, this devo really got to me because it is something that I personally need to work on, and it is also something that I have felt the effects of recently. So let's humble ourselves, own up to our personal sin, and extend Jesus' love instead of judgment to those who have fallen. Because who are we to judge?