“Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus…”

Philippians 2:1-5a

 

 

We are bruised and we are broken

battered on every side —

The enemy is swarming

hovering around like a million fruit flies.

We keep swatting and batting

our efforts vain and fruitless

maybe it’s time—no maybe’s about it—

get out the heavy artillery

winning this war, it’s ours for the taking.

If we only have faith small as a seed

fall on our knees in humble belief

cry to our God—Lord—King of kings,

His might will be shown, evident for all to see.

These divisions, darts, downright distractions

will all cease to be

when we pray courageously and boldly

in the only name worth praying to…

Jesus.

 

~Marcie Bridges
©13, July 2019

 

I’m tired. Tired of the arguing. Tired of the complaining. Tired of the fighting.

 

I’m tired of men criticizing women, and women having to defend themselves against men.

 

And while you may be expecting me to be talking about politics, sexual orientations, or sexual assault; I am not. I am talking about the body of Christ.

 

If you haven’t been on Twitter lately, you probably have no idea what I’m talking about. You may not realize how much fire women of faith have come up against by their fellow male counterparts. You may not know that Satan is having a field day over there. But you need to know.

 

Why? Because we are all part of the body of Christ. We are all part of the church. If you are born again, saved by grace, you are the church of God to this world. And you need to know the fierce war we are in.

 

Paul the Apostle of Jesus Christ calls us to be like-minded. He calls us to be united in our faith. We cannot be united and disunited at the same time. We cannot be issuing decrees against our sisters and brothers causing such conflict and dissension. We do not fight against flesh and blood but against spiritual forces of the air.

 

 

I have not engaged much in the bantering. I have read a lot, and I mean A LOT, of the tweets by our sisters who are heads of our women of faith. I’ve read the comments to them too. And it takes every ounce of restraint in me to not comment as well. Many of them are just downright disgusting. Embarrassing even. Yet, it is comments like this one (I am paraphrasing) that hits me most in the gut:

 

“All of this [controversy] confuses me as a follower of Christ. How much more does it confuse an unbeliever?”

 

So, while we are calling out our leaders in the Christian church for how they believe and what they teach, we need to be ever so careful how we do it. If we are not speaking in love, then we are doing our Christian faith a disservice. If we are not speaking with grace, I repeat, we are doing our Christian faith a disservice.

Yes, we are be watchers of the truth. We are to speak up when we know for sure someone is preaching or teaching against the Bible. But beloved, we have got to get a grip on ourselves and change our attitudes (from attacking) toward love and grace.

 

When we tear each other down, we tear down the name of Jesus. And the outside world, those who don’t believe, decide they don’t want to be a follower of Christ if this is what it means to be a Christian.

 

Pray first, type second. And if we should happen to offend, be quick to ask forgiveness and be just as quick to forgive when others offend us.

 

Whether we are for or against the issues (or people) we are passionate about, let us be for a faith lived out in love even more.

 

From My Heart to Yours,
Marcie

 

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