God Running is a place for anyone who wants to (or even anyone who wants to want to) love Jesus more deeply, follow Jesus more closely, and love people the way Jesus wants us to.

Romans 4:18-25

Speaking of Abraham, and Abraham’s great faith, Paul wrote:

In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.” He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.” But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

Permission to Overlook Sin and Faults and Flaws

Do you know what I find interesting about this passage of scripture written by Paul? While writing about Abraham’s faith in God to provide Abraham and Sarah with offspring, and the beginning of the promised vast number of progeny–Paul makes no mention of the whole Hagar incident!

“No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God . . .” Paul said.

You know the story. Abraham and Sarah grew tired of waiting on God to provide them with a child, so Sarah came up with the idea for Abraham to sleep with Sarah’s handmaid Hagar. Abraham agreed. Hagar conceived. And Ishmael was born.

Sadly, after that, all kinds of family strife ensued.

But does Paul share this lapse in faith and judgement on Abraham’s part?

No!

He doesn’t.

Which brings us to how you and I talk about other people.

Sometimes we can become concerned that someone’s sins, or faults, or flaws are going to be overlooked. “In the interest of shining light on truth,” we might think to ourselves, “I need to share this about him. Or I need to share that about her.”

“People need to know,” we might say to ourselves.

But guess what? God gives you, and He gives me, permission not to!

God gives us permission to show people grace!

Making a point, of pointing out people’s flaws isn’t Christ’s way. And it’s not the way for the Christ follower either.

Paul completely overlooked this low point in Abraham’s life. And Paul emphasized Abraham’s positives: his faith and his belief.

You and I should do the same.

Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. (Ephesians 4:29)

Notes:

Image of man holding speech balloon by Cup of Couple via pexels: License Legal Simplicity

Available on Google Play Books and on Amazon!

Love Like Jesus: How Jesus Loved People (and how you can love like Jesus)

Love Like Jesus begins with the story of how after a life of regular church attendance and Bible study, Bennett was challenged by a pastor to study Jesus. That led to an obsessive seven year deep dive. After pouring over Jesus’ every interaction with another human being, he realized he was doing a much better job of studying Jesus’ words than he was following Jesus’ words and example. The honest and fearless revelations of Bennett’s own moral failures affirm he wrote this book for himself as much as for others. Love Like Jesus examines a variety of stories, examples, and research, including:

• Specific examples of how Jesus communicated God’s love to others.
• How Jesus demonstrated all five of Gary Chapman’s love languages (and how you can too).
• The story of how Billy Graham extended Christ’s extraordinary love and grace toward a man who misrepresented Jesus to millions.
• How to respond to critics the way Jesus did.
• How to love unlovable people the way Jesus did.
• How to survive a life of loving like Jesus (or how not to become a Christian doormat).
• How Jesus didn’t love everyone the same (and why you shouldn’t either).
• How Jesus guarded his heart by taking care of himself–he even napped–and why you should do the same.
• How Jesus loved his betrayer Judas, even to the very end.

With genuine unfiltered honesty, Love Like Jesus, shows you how to live a life according to God’s definition of success: A life of loving God well, and loving the people around you well too.

A life of loving like Jesus. (Kindle, hardcover, and paperback now available on Amazon and the ebook is now available on Google Play Books.)