I have a question and i need help with it, I have a sister in church who got herself caught in a sinful act and the whole church knows even people who are not christians, I know she has repented but she still condemns herself she come to church now sits at the back hangs her head leaves as soon as church is done, and i do not know how to reach her to tell her it does not matter what the people say have said and still might be saying GOD has forgiven her and Jesus through the apostle Paul in Romans 8 how can i reach he heart and let her know that GOD still loves her,and he never will stop.
Val you can lead by example; for instance you can wait for her to come to the next church service and sit next to her ; when she leaves go with her maybe take her for a bite to eat. Be her friend, don't even talk about the situtation unless she brings it up.
TwoSparrows has it right. Be the visible expression of God's love; care for her; the whole church might be against you, but you and Jesus make a majority!
Yeah Val - definitely go sit by her. Some smiley faces is what she needs - yes, and don't bring it up unless she does. Talk about other stuff, showing you've put it behind you and it doesn't matter to you.
She should ask to speak before the congregation. Confess her sin in general terms and apologize. Then it will be incumbent upon the congregation to forgive her.
2 Timothy 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
I agree with everyone here. You need to read this scripture to your sister and let her know that whats done is done. In reality there is going to be people in the concregation that will and will not let it go. As long as she clears herself with our savior. That is all that matters. Its the devil that has her feeling this way. We are a people of fearless spirits and we should remember that in all situations of are lives.:boxing:
I'm the queen of condemnation! Or at least I used to be. Let me tell you before I forget...There's a good study book on that topic that I use, it's called Woman With a Past.
See, I don't know how close your sister is/was to the Lord. I have no clue about their relationship, but when you are sooo close to the Lord and then you do something that's sinful and BIG, it hurts you sooooo bad (especially if it's something sexual or immoral). The biggest, grayest, depressing cloud can hover over you after that if you're not careful. Whenever I crossed the Father, I used to beat myself up so bad. I was also scared to death about the consequences. So, I understand your sister, unfortunately!
But let her know...
1. Condemnation is from the Enemy. That's satan's mess. The Holy Spirit convicts/gently, but firmly corrects, not condemns. Remind her that THE DEVIL IS A LIAR!!!!!!!!!!!!
2. When we make a step, God makes a step. If she will take one step away from what she did back then, God will cover it up some. He'll make 5 people forget about it. Then she takes another step, and 10 people stop talking about it. Another step, then another....etc., until those past actions are as a vapor- abracadabra! The Lord is the only one who can make TREMENDOUS things disappear. If she has faith the size of a mustard seed, she sure can move a mountain! Hallelujah!
3. The Lord says that if we confess our sins, He's faithful and just to forgive us and He'll cleanse us from all unrighteousness
4. It's so much more I could say, but I'll stop here for now... Philippians 3:13 "Brothers, I do not consider myself to have embraced it yet. But this one thing I do: Forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead."
* David's Psalms helped me a lot through those times of condemnation. If she would meditate on those Psalms that David wrote(most of which are very repentant words), they would make her cry, (which can also be a form of cleansing), encourage her, edify her and pull her up out of that pit, simultaneously)!
*Worship the Lord about this situation because He's already worked it out, and He is matchless. He is wonderful, He is excellent, He's the Beginning and the End. The Alpha and the Omega. He's already worked it out! Hallelujah! Keep praying for her as well. :prayingm: Be there for her, love on her, acknowledge her and make her laugh. This season is going to start to change, if they haven't already. May God bless you for your selfless concern!
It's an awful thing when this kind of condemnation occurs within the church. I was just reading what everyone wrote on here and I thought of when Jesus stopped the crowd from stoning the adulterous woman. (John 8:1-11) *(No I am not comparing that to this situation or insinuating anything.)
The reason this story stands out to me in this instance is because of what Jesus said to everyone who was there with their judgements and condemnations. As I'm sure everyone is familiar with, He told the people that those among them who had not sinned could throw the first stones. And I think that this is often what we forget as members of the church, that we are not better than other people, and particularly in a case where someone has done something wrong, we can become condemning of them and behave in ways that indicate we think we are better than they are. We fail to acknowledge that we have also made mistakes.
Yes, we should be accountable to others, and we should encourage and support others in faith and in doing the right things, but this attitude we often have of simply looking down on someone who has made a mistake is not right. Just look at this situation, this girl feels badly enough within herself, and sits at the back of the church not even feeling welcome or comfortable with being there. When people feel that way, that's when they need God and other believers around them the most, and it's a horrible thing that during those times we can drive them even further away by making them feel undeserving.
Another good reference is Matthew 7:1-5 (About not judging others)
The truth is, NONE of us are deserving, if we were and if we could be good enough to earn our salvation and God's love and forgiveness, than what Jesus lived and died here on earth to accomplish would not have been necessary.
WOW! I don't HAVE NOTHING to SAY HERE! YOU ALL DID IT ALREADY !!:applause::applause::applause::applause::applause::applause::applause::applause::applause::applause::applause: What i will give to you is some Biblical Scripture to share with her :II PETER Ch 3v 9,PSALM 69, LUKE Ch. 19 v 9-10,JOHN Ch. 3v 16,LUKE Ch. 1 v 37,ACTS Ch. 2 v21,ACTS Ch 4v 12 & ROMANS Ch 3v 23. All she has to is to ask The Lord Jesus to forgive her.When she does this, this is how she SHOULD react ::glow:glow::applause::yay::yay: .Then give her these Sriptures :1 John Ch 3v1, CORINTHIANS Ch 15v 54,II CORINTHIANS Ch 9v 15,Romans C 5v 8 & ESPESCALLY LUKE CH 10v 20 !But first,read PSALM 121 or listen to from The Brooklyn Tabernacle chior because she may not want do this right away.Remember what LUKE CH 1v 37 says,and keep on praying for her. Take care & GOD BLESS!!
