Gtcotr/ws053123
Hebrews 11:31 By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies.
The well-known line quoted during the swearing in of a witness who takes the stand during a court proceeding is: “Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?”
The whole truth! If the whole truth could really be shared during a trial, any reasonably conscious 14-year-old could render a fair verdict.
It’s difficult to get people to listen to the whole truth and at times the whole truth is simply not yet known.
When we read stories from the Bible, we often judge the main character of the story based on what they did after they encountered their biggest problem or worst failure. It’s what they did after failure or hardship that we remember most. Somehow, we have grace to cover the mistakes and sins of people we get to know after they have changed.
The whole story seems to change the way we feel about people. If we were to get stuck only in the introduction of a person, we might not like them or give them a chance to change or recover.
This was a problem the first century Church dealt with concerning the acceptance of the Apostle Paul. They knew him to be a persecutor of those who believed in Jesus. It must also have been hard for some believers in Colosse to accept Onesimus back into their small congregation after he ran away from Philemon.
God admonishes us to not get stuck in the middle of someone’s testimony. In fact, God especially does not want us to get stuck in the middle of our own testimony. Jesus did not want Peter’s denial, or Thomas’ doubt to be the end of their stories.
·
It’s
what Ruth did after she lost her husband that makes the story worth telling.
·
It’s
what Bathsheba did after she committed adultery and conspired to murder her
faithful husband that makes her worth remembering with honor.
·
It’s
what Hannah did after she encountered hardship and barrenness that makes us
want to be like her when we face trials.
·
It’s
what Mary Magdalene did after she was delivered of seven demon spirits that
causes us to acknowledge and embrace her as the first evangelist chosen by
Jesus after His resurrection.
·
We
imagine Bathsheba to be the virtuous woman of the Bible.
· It’s what Rahab did after she was a harlot in Jericho that places her on the list of the women of great faith in the Bible.
We remember the characters of the Bible for what they did after they turned their lives over to God. But what we may not always appreciate is the fact that they were still living in their old ways and their old habits and sin-filled situations of life when they made their decision to change.
What are you going to do about your current situation?
Are you willing to hear the whole story before you start judging others? Just remember: The whole truth may not have been told or even lived yet.
1 Corinthians 4 ESV
3 But with me it is a very
small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I do
not even judge myself.
4 For I am not aware of
anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who
judges me.
5 Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God.
Let
God finish telling the story of someone’s life before you judge them for
something they did … even if that someone is you!
