Sibling Rivalry


Millions of people, all over the world, know the nature of Truth.  They know the God who made us all.

You know them.  They walk among you.  And they are not ashamed to testify about what they have come to know.

How do I know this?  Because I am one of them.  I know that the Living God, the Holy Father, would not leave this world without testimony about what is more important than anything in this world.  He gave His Holy Son into the hands of man to die.  And this for the sake of saving us all.  Why would He now abandon man by having no witnesses among us?

They are all at various stages of understanding.  But God works in them to testify, with reliability, according to the Gospel.  By the power of God, their testimony is reliable.  It is the ears of man which muddy up the “Word of God”.  And it is their “past man” which conflicts within them to deliver what they have come to “know” by faith.

Perhaps you have one in your family.  You know that person, so you discount what they say.  You remember the person they were before they came to understand the Gospel.  So you assume they are only spouting what they believe, as if what they now believe were only another opinion (of which there are, apparently, billions).

By rejecting what they say, because you have known them, you reject the One who has transformed their thinking.  Did you know that?

I know it’s hard, but if you would only listen to what they are saying, you too can become a child of the Living God.  I am, after all, speaking of Christianity.

Now if you find it too hard to rid yourself of the image of the man or woman you used to know, as you strive to listen to them, then go find a stranger that speaks the same things.

It’s curious, about people, that they get stuck in a rut when it comes to the Gospel preached by family or acquaintance.  But let us recognize that such difficulties exist.  Fine.  But don’t let that stop you from looking into the things of Christ.

Don’t let the natural mistrust divide you from eternal life.  Don’t let sibling rivalry, (that hideous tendency of man to discount the words of another man, simply because that person is another man just like you) rip eternal life from your fragile fingers.

Right now you have no idea how precious the Gospel is.  You don’t know what is at stake.  You don’t know the glories you are throwing away by not being willing to listen.  You are judging the content by the wrapper.  Strive to get past what you think you know.  Strive to understand what you’ve never comprehended.

And have mercy on that person.  He or she is trying, with all they have, to interpret the things of heaven to human ears.  It might take some time to get the message out clearly.  Encourage them to try again, if what they say to you makes no sense at all.  If you want mercy from God, be willing to give it to your sincere brother.

You’ll have to put on patience, something we humans seem to have extremely little of.   But if you comprehend what they’re trying to tell you, you’ll find every difficulty more valuable than all the riches in the world.

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