Paul has the heart of a shepherd. Faced with the weak brothers and sisters, his heart was in pain. He prayed for them in tears and wrote them to explain the burden in his heart, not to condemn them, but to try to convince them to turn back to God because he really loved them. Ministries of condemnation and love are completely different; ministry of condemnation can only rule over hearts of people and make them feel sad, but won't allow them to turn back and be accepted again; ministry of love, however, always give someone a second chance.
In the story of the prodigal son, the elder son was in a ministry of condemnation; he was only thinking about how his brother offended and shortchanged him. When his brother came back, not only was he unhappy, he was also sarcastic towards the situation and complained to his father for putting together a big joyful feast for his brother's return. Father of the prodigal son, however, was in a ministry of love; he knew that his younger son had made a mistake, but he still hoped the son would turn back to him. When the younger son came back, the father didn't ask him to take a bath first, but he hugged and kissed the son. The father demonstrated an accepting love, and also how to give someone a second chance.
Are you willing to give brothers and sisters a second chance? We should and must do it, because God has also given us many second chances. Therefore, we must treat those who are weak gracefully. How do we know that we have accepting love? The easiest test is to see whether you are joyful when someone turns back, or you would still be suspecting whether the person turned back for real or not. Maybe you will say that that we need to observe the prodigal son for a while, which might be the right thing to do, but our basic attitude must be that we are joyful for those who turned back. If we are not, may God help you to follow the example of Paul's love, to be freed from the spirit of condemnation.
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