1 Who may worship in your sanctuary, Lord?
Who may enter your presence on your holy hill?
2 Those who lead blameless lives and do what is right,
speaking the truth from sincere hearts.
3 Those who refuse to gossip
or harm their neighbors
or speak evil of their friends.
4 Those who despise flagrant sinners,
and honor the faithful followers of the Lord,
and keep their promises even when it hurts.
5 Those who lend money without charging interest,
and who cannot be bribed to lie about the innocent.
Such people will stand firm forever.
These are the ten standards to determine how I'm doing, and to change if you need to.
- lead blameless lives.
- do what is right.
- speak the truth from a sincere heart.
- refuse to slander or harm others.
- refuse to speak evil of their friends.
- despise persistent sinners.
- honor the faithful followers of the Lord.
- keep their promises, even when it hurts.
- do not charge interest on the money they loan.
- refuse to accept bribes to testify against the innocent.
From me.
Jesus said, "You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:37-40) And according to Psalm 15, how we treat others is a big part of seeing where we are at spiritually. When we are treating others well, seeking the best for them, we are fulfilling the first three standards. This is not to say we will be perfect, but we are working on being Christ-like in our daily living.
How we speak seems to be very important here. Being truthful, speaking kindly, doing what we say we will, and not lying about others....Our heavenly Father puts a priority on what comes out of our mouths. Again, Jesus said, "It’s not what goes into your mouth that defiles you; you are defiled by the words that come out of your mouth.” (Matthew 15:11). I always feel a lot of my battles come with my mouth. Some times I just need to keep it shut, both for what's going in and what's coming out! LOL
There are days when I feel like I am that persistent sinner. But I don't think that is what it means here. I think it's talking about those who are unrepentant, who say their sin is actually not sin, but their right, they are free to act however they want and no one can tell them right and wrong. Their behavior we are to despise. We are to mirror Christ to them and let God take care of the rest. These are not people to be in deep spiritual relationship with. Yes, we will come in contact with those who are bent on self-rule, being their own god....and we are to reach out to them with the love of Jesus, but I think we need to know that it is God who has to change them. Hopefully what they see in us will cause them to seek after the Lord, and we can be open to leading. It's a difficult place to be in when this is a close family member who is rejecting the Lord and going their own way. We walk a fine line! Loving them is not the same as accepting their lifestyle as okay. I think that will look different in each case. I've heard it said "hate the sin, love the sinner." And I think that is the way Jesus lived.
Lord, help us to check ourselves out regularly, repent when necessary and change when You lead. Thank You for Your Word which shows us Your heart and Your ways. Give us the desperate desire to follow You. Let us mirror You to the world and shine Your love for all to see! In Your holy and precious Name Lord Jesus. Amen.
2 Corinthians 13:5 Examine yourselves to see if your faith is genuine. Test yourselves. Surely you know that Jesus Christ is among you; if not, you have failed the test of genuine faith.
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