Love on Them (Proverbs 19:11)

There is something about having the ability to overlook a matter. When a sin is committed against ourselves, do we have the ability to forgive?

"Good sense makes a man restrain his anger, and it is his glory to overlook a transgression or an offense." Proverbs 19:11, Amplified

How are we to restrain our anger? Jesus is our greatest example. Even on the cross He did not lash out in anger as humanity jeered at Him. If it were me on the cross, I may have taken myself off and called down fire from heaven. But this is not what we are looking at here today. It is the restraint of anger and the overlooking of transgression.

Please do not mistake the restraint of anger as tolerance, however. It is our goal in the youth ministry at my church to love on the kids. We even want to open our hearts to the homosexual population of the Morongo Basin. To brow beat a child and tell him he is going to Hell is no way to reach him. Jesus hung out with whores and thieves. It was the love that He had for them that made Him desirable. He did not condone their behavior but as He touched lives, they could not stay the same, they had to change. Speaking the truth in love causes the truth to kindle within the heart of the sinner until it is fanned to flame.

It is not our job to bring judgement on anyone, rather to speak the truth in love. Though the lifestyle of homosexuality is not condoned, love still needs to be the main focus of ministry. What I think is unrealized by most ministries, is that first there is a sealing of the individual then comes the change. When God was numbering the children of Israel for the building of the Tabernacle, every man had to give a half shekel of silver. This money was referred to as either a ransom or atonement money in two verses. The ransom refers to "pitch" which Noah used to seal the ark. The atonement money is actually the word used for "henna" as in tattoos. Changed cannot come before sealing for that would conclude that we have the power to enter heaven on our own. Rather we are sealed by Jesus first, and because of that sealing, we are moved to change.

This belief system is not just for homosexuality, but any type of sin. the kid who is sleeping around with the opposite sex, the one who is stealing, the one who is drinking or using drugs. We need to love on everyone. Because of the lack of judgment, we can bring them closer to Jesus. It is our job to love, it is the job of the Bible to convict the heart of man.