On another Sabbath he went into the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was shriveled. The Pharisees and the teachers of the law were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal on the Sabbath. But Jesus knew what they were thinking and said to the man with the shriveled hand, “Get up and stand in front of everyone.” So he got up and stood there. Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?” (Luke 6:6-9)
We moved and our children were the newest teens a prideful youth pastor was in charge of. He scrutinized, looking for reasons to blame my children and separate them from the rest of the group. He thought punishing them made him look powerful.
The youth pastor crippled my children’s self-esteems, but the Pharisees couldn’t cripple Jesus. Humans are all crippled in some way, but for teaching, Jesus used a man crippled outwardly. Basically, Jesus asked His congregation, “What is the correct thing to do on the Sabbath, to do good or evil, to love this man or not love him.” Love is always the correct response. When we love, we won’t break God’s or man’s laws.
Father God, help me search my heart and rid it of pride. Help me make a conscious effort today to build up everyone You put in my path with Your love. Amen.
The choice should always be good over evil, love over hate, saving life over destroying it. It is terrible that when a person becomes so full of themselves that they think that it is OK to hurt others. Hard to believe that a youth minister could be that way. He wasn’t humble which is what Jesus wants us to be. Victoria had a bad experience at the Methodist church we went to, she never felt comfortable after that.
I’m sorry Victoria had a bad experience also. Sam goes to church most Sundays and I’m confident my girls will find churches also. They will be careful as they realize from their bad experiences that the staff of a church is very important. I have trouble finding a Bible-based church that isn’t judgmental. I have found one in Ocala but not in Marianna.