Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. Galatians 6:1-2
Heavenly Father, we come to your throne of grace this morning praying for courage, wisdom and gentleness. I’m thinking about friendship this morning and the seasons of friendship that get sticky and complicated. Many of us walk with friends who are disregarding their relationship with you, making foolish choices and are heading for disaster. We really need your help. We need you to teach us how to love well when our friends are caught and entangled in sin.
None of us naturally likes confrontation and we decry self-righteous busybodies who show up in our lives like self-appointed prosecuting attorneys. But these words of Paul paint a different picture and present a different spirit.
Father, give us courage and strength. If a friend loves in all seasons, that certainly must involve the seasons when we get entangled in sin. Sin brings death. We tend to forget this… death. If we saw a friend drinking poison, we wouldn’t hesitate to do something. If we saw a friend stepping close to a pit of rattlesnakes, we’d warn them. Help us hate sin enough and love our friends enough to risk getting involved. Better to risk the awkwardness, messiness and defensiveness, than to watch another life or marriage simply go down.
Give us wisdom and persistence. It’s not about a rush to judgment, but a journey to restoration. Help us to listen before launching. The goal must always be restoration, not just rebuke. Entanglements take a while to get disentangled. We may have to carry some of these burdens longer than we realize. Father, we need the power of the Holy Spirit and the love of Jesus. You promise to give us sufficient grace for all things, and we take you at your Word. We need great grace to do this well.
Give us gentleness and hope. Those who remove specks the best are those who are most aware of the log in their own eye. Keep us humble and keep us aware of our own “tempt-ability.” None of us is beyond the need of grace and none of us is beyond the reach of grace. Keep us gentle and keep us expectant. Our joy is in remembering Jesus is the great Restorer, not us. This is the law of Christ we are fulfilling… his yoke we are bearing… his story that’s being written. Fill us with hope. Fill us with the hope of the gospel.
Lastly, Father, we praise you for churches that are stepping up and are seeking to do this hard and heart work of discipline and restoration. Increase their tribe and bless their endeavors. It’s never easy. It’s never easy. So very Amen, we pray, in Jesus’ holy and loving name.
