June 8, 2019
“…..do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?” Romans 2:4
The Greek word translated as contempt means literally, “think down”. It refers to holding someone in contempt, deeming them unworthy and hence despised because I see myself higher than they are on whatever measure I am using at the moment.
Examples are “they are obese and I am not”, “they smoke and I do not”, “they go to that liberal church and I do not”, “they support Planned Parenthood and I do not.” The list of such things that I find myself thinking that devalues people seems to be endless. This does not please me me and I fight it daily. These thoughts are rooted in the brokenness of humanity that we all have to some degree. None of us are totally free from such thoughts even if we think we are. That is one reason of many, why I need to be around people who are different from me so that when the thoughts of contempt occur that I may take them captive by the power of the Holy Spirit and bring them into submission to Jesus Christ.
We give authority to spiritual forces by agreeing with them. Jesus told his disciples, “You do not know what kind of spirit you are of” when they asked if they should call down fire from heaven to consume those they disagreed with about who Jesus was. They were upset because some people did not see him as they did, but they did not recognize they were speaking words that were not from the heart of Jesus or God his Father.
“Abba Father, I pray that I will be sensitive to the conviction of the Holy Spirit today when I think less of people than you do and that I will quickly repent and embrace the high value you have for every person. May I honor others above myself and seek understanding so that I will not think more highly of myself than I ought. Thank you for your kindness that leads me to repentance.”
Blessings,
Kevin