RAVENOUS WOLVES (36 OF 52)
Scripture: Matthew 7:15-27
This content is part of a series.
Ravenous Wolves (36 of 52)
Series: Discipleship Part Three
Christopher B. Harbin
Matthew 7:15-27
It is hard for us to assess well what is going on behind someone's words and actions. It is no easy task to understand what motivates other people to act the way they do, to make the decisions they make, and how they come to their conclusions. We are not privy to what goes on in the recesses of one another's minds. To do that appropriately, we would need intimate knowledge of one another's history of experiences, their priorities, and what influences are working on them. Often as not, we are at a loss to explain the actions and reactions of our children whom we have known throughout their lives. How can we possibly understand what motivates others we are newly encountering?
The Sermon on the Mount, as we call it, is the central sermon of Jesus' ministry. It lays out for us the broad scope of Jesus' teaching. It paints the picture of a life lived in full trust and dependence upon God as a Loving Father. It displays God providing for our needs so as to enable us to reach out to one another in compassion, grace, love, and acceptance, the same qualities of blessing we receive from God. We find Jesus calling us to positively accept and love one another as ourselves, not making ourselves out to be in any way superior nor mistreating others as unworthy of God's care and thus our own. We find Jesus building a framework for a society built on peace, generosity, grace, forgiveness, acceptance, and compassion. Then we find the concluding remarks of today's passage. Beware!
Jesus gave the crowds a warning to beware of false prophets. We can pretty easily understand that. He did not want them following after those who claimed to be spokespersons for God, but who offered a message inconsistent with God's purposes. We could easily understand that Jesus would want to distance himself from those with competing claims about God. We could readily identify that Jesus would no ...
Series: Discipleship Part Three
Christopher B. Harbin
Matthew 7:15-27
It is hard for us to assess well what is going on behind someone's words and actions. It is no easy task to understand what motivates other people to act the way they do, to make the decisions they make, and how they come to their conclusions. We are not privy to what goes on in the recesses of one another's minds. To do that appropriately, we would need intimate knowledge of one another's history of experiences, their priorities, and what influences are working on them. Often as not, we are at a loss to explain the actions and reactions of our children whom we have known throughout their lives. How can we possibly understand what motivates others we are newly encountering?
The Sermon on the Mount, as we call it, is the central sermon of Jesus' ministry. It lays out for us the broad scope of Jesus' teaching. It paints the picture of a life lived in full trust and dependence upon God as a Loving Father. It displays God providing for our needs so as to enable us to reach out to one another in compassion, grace, love, and acceptance, the same qualities of blessing we receive from God. We find Jesus calling us to positively accept and love one another as ourselves, not making ourselves out to be in any way superior nor mistreating others as unworthy of God's care and thus our own. We find Jesus building a framework for a society built on peace, generosity, grace, forgiveness, acceptance, and compassion. Then we find the concluding remarks of today's passage. Beware!
Jesus gave the crowds a warning to beware of false prophets. We can pretty easily understand that. He did not want them following after those who claimed to be spokespersons for God, but who offered a message inconsistent with God's purposes. We could easily understand that Jesus would want to distance himself from those with competing claims about God. We could readily identify that Jesus would no ...
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