Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Grace”
Our Bible verse for today: “Now we who are strong have an obligation to bear the weaknesses of those without strength, and not to please ourselves.” Romans 15:1 (HCSB)
Our thought for today: “We must extend grace to those who don’t deserve it.”
I have a confession to make, “I am not, by nature, a grace-filled person.” Exactly the opposite is true. In my flesh I have to resist the temptation to slap difficult people. When I’m confronted with a whiny, complaining, self-absorbed, and divisive person, my military officer persona begins rising to the surface and I start seeing images in my mind of this person dropping to the ground and giving me twenty push-ups.
It takes nothing less than the Holy Spirit Himself to keep that in check.
In my reading this morning of Rick Warren’s book, “What on Earth Am I here for?” Rick introduced me to a new term, “EGR People”. “Extra Grace Required”. These are people who have porcupine personalities – they’re always poking and jabbing and irritating. They are individuals who always seem to have an issue; needy people seeking attention.
There are some in every church. In fact, from time to time I’m probably one of them – and so are you.
Obviously in such situations if we allow our flesh to dictate our responses we could end up with a lot of conflict in the church. And so, the New Testament provides believers with lots of guidance on how to handle difficult people (and how to avoid being one).
In Romans 15:1 the Apostle Paul made reference to being strong and putting up with the weaknesses of others. He’s talking about being strong in the Spirit. He’s referring to spiritual maturity and how it should enable us to be kind and patient and loving and gracious even with – especially with – those who don’t deserve it. You know, kind of like what God does with us.
As you gather with your church family this week you’re probably going to have to deal with some EGRs. I urge you not to slap them! Instead, surrender the situation to the Holy Spirit. Ask Him to empower you to deal with difficult people gracefully. We must extend grace even to – maybe especially to – those who don’t deserve it.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 