Giving Jesus Credit

God does a good job with his children.  He gives us His Spirit, and His holy Spirit changes us and teaches us to be like Him – friendly, honest, generous, and kind, and to be that way even when life gets hard.  When we follow after the Spirit and are made that way, we not only please God, but also people: “The kingdom of God is … righteousness and peace and joy in the holy Spirit, and he who serves Christ in these things is acceptable to God and approved by men” (Rom. 14:17–18).  In return for having His sweet, humble Spirit within us to mold us and guide us through this life, all that God asks is that we be faithful witnesses for His Son.  The temptation we all face is to take God’s gift and win friends with it, but then try to keep those friends by not giving Jesus the credit.

When I was in college, a friend of mine whom we called “Shag” told me about a sweet woman in her small hometown whose husband treated her like dirt.  Everybody in town knew about it and felt sorry for the poor soul.  But that woman endured for so long and with such grace the public abuse and infidelity of her wretched husband that Shag just had to approach her in a store one day to ask her what her secret was.  How was she able to keep doing good and remain at peace in spite of her horrible situation?  “Then she ruined it,” Shag said to me. “She started talking about Jesus!”

By her kindness and sweet attitude, which her heavenly Father had taught her, that abused child of God had earned the right to testify about what Jesus had done.  Shag was indignant about it, but she had asked that woman to tell her how she was able to be the kind of person she was.  And that woman, no doubt long since gone to be with the Lord now, gave all the credit for her strength and good spirit to the One who had given it to her.

That’s all God asks us to do: let His Son make us good, and then, when we have won the respect of people around us because of His work in our lives, give His Son the credit for it that he deserves.

Two Reactions to Hearing the Word of the Lord

“When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart,

and they said to Peter and to the rest of the apostles,

‘Men and brothers, what are we to do?’

Peter started telling them, ‘Repent and be baptized, every one of you, 

in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins,

and you will receive the gift of the holy Spirit!’”

(Acts 2:37–38)

“When they heard these things, they were cut to their hearts,

and they began gnashing their teeth at him…. 

They cried out with a loud voice, covered their ears,

and rushed at him with one accord,

and they threw him out of the city and began stoning him.”

(Acts 7:54, 57–58)

Both of the above groups discerned that the man of God was speaking to and about them.  The different reactions revealed what kind of hearts the people in each group had.  When someone desires the truth and fellowship with God, it is a relief to hear the truth.  When someone has a hardened heart, it is an affront to hear it.

Years ago, a brother whose heart was beginning to harden was approached by a dear elder, and then a sweet sister, about a fault in him which they both, at different times, had seen in him.  Later, when I asked him about their conversations, he angrily replied, “The only reason they said those things is because you talk so bad about me!”  That accusation was not true, but truth was not what he wanted anymore.  The truth was an affront to him, not a relief, and he was using me as an excuse to dismiss it.

In other cases, I have seen when brothers and sisters corrected each other, there was repentance and renewed fellowship and joy.  What a blessing for the whole body that response is, every time that it happens!  Solomon said, “Iron sharpens iron; likewise, a man sharpens the countenance of his friend” (Prov. 27:17).  And Paul complimented the saints in Rome because they had sufficient love, wisdom, boldness, and humility to both give and take reproof (Rom. 15:14).  That is a very great compliment for a body of believers.

When you are being talked to, the way Peter talked to his fellow Jews in Acts 2 and the way Stephen talked to the Sanhedrin in Acts 7, you will either take heed, be thankful, and do what God wants you to do, or you will stiffen your neck and refuse it, and find someone to blame for your stubbornness.  It all depends on the heart.  That is why David told young Solomon, “Above all else, guard your heart, for out of it are the issues of life” (Prov. 4:23).