Seeing The Good As Much As The Bad

“That the communication of thy faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus. For we have great joy and consolation in thy love, because the bowels of the saints are refreshed by thee, brother.” (Phm 1:6-7 AV)

 

In reading this passage and our elder mentors, it is unclear to me who is doing the acknowledging.  I cannot tell if it is Philemon or those who observe him.  It matters little in our application this morning, but it would be helpful.  Much of our meditation is upon that which needs correcting.  We read and listen to the word of God as our guide and mentor to convict our hearts of that which is in error for the hope of growing more and more into Christlikeness.  However, what we seldom do is stop and take stock in that which the LORD has accomplished.  That good thing or things which we now possess by the mercy of God and the work of the Holy Spirit.  Not for the sake of boasting for none have that privilege.  Rather, we can stop and consider the victories God has given lest we get discouraged at the lack of progress we seem to perceive.  Like looking in a mirror, we are looking for what is wrong.  Hair out of place.  A blemish that needs to be covered.  Something lodged in the teeth.  Our ever greying hair.  We are looking for flaws when we know we cannot be perfect.  We look for the flaws that can be corrected and hid and learn to live with the rest.  This is what we do in our spiritual life, too.  We are constantly looking for the beam that is in our own eye so it can be removed.  What we seldom see is the straight teeth, the trimmed beard, or the even eyes.  We only see that which is wrong and do not care to see that which is right.

Our subject, Philemon, is a slave owner whose slave ran away.  Onesimus had departed either with Philemon’s permission, or without, and found himself arrested and in the company of Paul.  Paul won him to the LORD and was discipling him.  This letter to Philemon was Paul’s request to Philemon to treat Onesimus with compassion when he returned to the jurisdiction of his labor.  Now, before you get the wrong idea, slavery back then was not what we would think of today.  When someone was referred to as a slave, almost always he was an indentured servant.  He owed a debt which his ‘owner’ paid and in return, the debtor was a slave until the balance of the debt was paid back.  Either by direct payment or for services rendered.  So, when Onesimus ran off, he was welching on a debt.  He was a thief.  When Paul appeals to the work of grace in the life of Philemon, he is in a way, appealing to the character of Philemon as a way to gain grace for Onesimus.  The point, regardless of Paul’s motive, was Philemon had the grace of God on his life to such a degree that others noticed it and he, himself, may not have.  This is our thought for the day.

It is hard to take a compliment.  When someone acknowledges a work of God through your life, our instinct it to react in humility and reject such a compliment.  This same humility can get us into trouble in the sense we will not allow God to get credit for anything right in our lives because we don’t think there is anything right.  We often place ourselves in a constant place of self-abasement that will not entertain any good thing the LORD has done.  We will not allow ourselves to rejoice in the work of grace He has bestowed upon us through Jesus Christ and the work of the Spirit.  We feel that is arrogant.  But it is not.  Any more than acknowledging a talent that a mentor has brought out in us and led us along a path to which we can use that talent for the glory of God.  When this preacher preaches, and people are fed because of it, I am humbled this even happens.  There is a way in which we can receive compliments given.  To refuse them is an insult.  However, to allow one’s self to be puffed up is also wrong.  It tickles me when people pay me a compliment.  That is because I know exactly who it is that makes this possible and it thrills my heart to know God has used me to bless someone else.  When we get down on how much of a failure we are, just remember, you are not as much of a failure you once were and as you grow in the LORD you won’t be as much of a failure as you are now.  That is because there are good things in you which the LORD has done and we need to acknowledge this.  Otherwise, we fail to give glory to a God that deserves it and we live in a constant state of defeat!