6 Minute Read

Prepare Your Heart

To the best of your ability, get rid of all distractions. Take a few minutes to breathe deeply and quiet yourself in the Lord’s presence. Then, ask the Lord to speak to you in this time. Let Him know that you will listen and make whatever adjustments He will reveal to you.

Read God’s Word

2 Chronicles 28-29
Acts 8:1-25

A Verse for Today

Slowly and reflectively read the following verse(s) and listen to what God will say to you through His written Word. Consider writing down any insights He reveals to you.

Acts 8:1-3 (CSB): “Saul agreed with putting him to death. On that day a severe persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout the land of Judea and Samaria. Devout men buried Stephen and mourned deeply over him. Saul, however, was ravaging the church. He would enter house after house, drag off men and women, and put them in prison.”

Reflecting on God’s Word

Saul wasn’t just a bad man; he was evil! He watched over the outer garments of those who picked up rocks and stoned Stephen to death. He participated in a severe persecution against the children of God by invading houses and dragging Christians against their will to prison, and some eventually to death.

How that must have broken God’s heart to see Saul do such horrible things to His children.

And Christians weren’t indifferent to Saul! When Saul did a 180 and surrendered his life to Jesus on the road to Damascus, God told a man named Ananias to go and find him so that Paul could regain his sight. Ananias initially resisted because he was afraid of Paul. Maybe, just maybe, he thought Paul wasn’t worthy of forgiveness.

Friend, we often talk about the ugly pride that the Pharisees demonstrated. We recognize that they thought they had it altogether while looking down their pious noses at everyone else.

We are often the same way!

But God’s love is the kind of love that rejoices in reaching out to the unworthy and graciously bringing them close to Him. He saved a wretch like Saul and gave him a mission to spread the wonderful Gospel to the ends of the earth. Saul wasn’t worthy of that kind of love and forgiveness, but that’s what our God delights to do. He delights to forgive and restore.

We, on the other hand, often cannot forgive, and we certainly won’t forget what someone has done or was. We know what grace and mercy are, but we often find it difficult, even impossible, to extend them to those we deem unworthy.

We need to ask the Lord for a heart like His. We need His grace to enable us to love people who are currently engaged in not merely bad things but evil things. While we desire that our government officials will uphold the law and punish lawbreakers (Romans 13:1-4), we also pray for those lawbreakers to come to know Jesus.

Why?

Because the hard truth is that ALL of us are sinners (Romans 3:23) in need of a Savior. It’s just that some sins are greater in severity. But all of us are lawbreakers who will stand before Jesus on Judgment Day. We are so glad that God has saved us, and we should pray for (and work for) others to know Jesus, too.

Here’s a very big point! Some of the most passionate followers of Jesus are those who know how bad they were before Jesus saved them. Since they experienced God’s wonderful grace that forgave their horrendous past, they tend to love, serve, and enjoy Him more.

Listen to what Jesus said regarding the woman who washed His feet, who had apparently done some really bad things in her past.

Luke 7:47 (CSB): “Therefore I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven; that’s why she loved much. But the one who is forgiven little, loves little.”

Principle: People who don’t realize how bad they were in God’s eyes before they were saved will struggle to love the Lord as they should. But someone who knows full well how bad they were in God’s eyes (and maybe in the eyes of others) can’t help but love the Lord Jesus with all their heart and gladly serve Him the rest of their days.

It’s easy to look down on others who sin differently than we do. It is particularly easy to look down on others who are “bigger” sinners than we are. But the fact is that all of us are sinners in need of a Savior. So, while we pray for justice for some offenses, we should never cease to pray for every single person around us who needs to be saved, no matter what their lifestyle and sinful choices are right now. It could be that the greater the sinner they are, the greater the saint they will be.

Final note: There is a biblical tension between craving justice for wrongdoing and loving the sinner who has done that wrong. I wrote an article many years ago in which I addressed this issue. You may find it helpful. Just click the following link: “On loving and killing our enemies”

Spend Time in Prayer

  • Ask God to help you see what you were before He saved you. Maybe you didn’t commit any “big” sins but even the smallest of sins would have required Jesus to die on the cross to save you.
  • Ask God to give you a love for others, no matter how sinful they are. They are a sinner in need of a Savior, and they won’t be drawn to your Jesus if they don’t see His love flow through you to them.

Going Deeper

If you want to dig a little deeper into why all of us need Jesus, consider reading the following GotQuestions article:

“Why do we need a Savior?”

Sharing

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Matt Ellis is the pastor of White Hall Baptist Church in Richmond, Kentucky (whitehallbaptistchurch.org/)