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From Father Andrew Bahhi: We are All Dear Brothers and Sisters

June 02, 2019
in The Word
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In the book of Luke 9:51-62, Jesus speaks to His disciples while going to Jerusalem. On his way, he had to pass through Samaria. And, at the time Jewish people had to come around Samaria to avoid it because it was a very sensitive time between the peoples.

When Jesus was going there, people rejected him, and he changed his direction. Two of the disciples joining him, James and John, were very angry that people rejected Jesus. They asked “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?”

But Jesus responded:

“You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.”

Here, Jesus is instructing us that feeling this way towards others is an evil spirit and is not the way for anyone who calls themselves a Christian. Being angry or wishing death upon someone, not them wanting to be saved, is not the behavior of one worthy of being one of His disciples.

Here James and John did not show good discipleship. Instead, you must be patient and longsuffering towards others. This is a very good sign of your faith as a Christian.

“Whoever guards his mouth and tongue keeps his soul from troubles,” Proverbs 21:23.

Be careful from the gossip. Don’t judge Samaritans if you don’t know them. You don’t know God’s plan for those people. Gossip is also like a disease, very contagious.

Why do we gossip?

  1. An empty life. If our life is full, we ask how to glorify God. And we will never find time to talk about others.
  2. If we are jealous, we don’t want people to have success. We put them down in order to raise ourselves up.
  3. Bad company. That’s why the Bible encourages us to choose the right friends. In order to do that, we need to have love and the will of God in our heart.

In order to be in Jesus’s life, we need to have a humble heart, broken heart, and to be full of love. No matter what people do, that does not make them enemies. But the Evil one is the enemy. Pray that the evil one escapes others instead of wishing evil upon those people.

We are all dear brothers and sisters. Jesus is being very clear about this. Please recognize and wake up to know the spirit you have. My spirit, Jesus says, is the spirit of every man to be saved and come to the truth.

Learn more in Father Andrew’s sermon video here.

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