Man, it cuts deep when someone I care about thinks poorly of me, especially because of sin I’ve committed—sin I’m deeply sorry for, that I’ve since confessed and turned away from. Yet, they continue to hold it against me, refusing to let me escape its condemnation, and won’t receive me.
The Apostle Paul, grieved by his former persecution of Christ and His followers, knew a little something about this. God’s word written through his experience guides me.
Though this specific passage is written in the context of warding against boasting in man and thinking more of someone than is warranted (the error of “I am of Paul” or “I am of Apollos”), it is equally effective in warding against thinking less of myself than I should (because I’ve thought about the assessment of others more than is warranted).
I believe Paul, in this passage, has both in view with the intention of helping believers navigate either:
“But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by a human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself.
For I know of nothing against myself, yet I am not justified by this; but He who judges me is the Lord.”
— 1 Corinthians 4:3-4
In short, I am the Lord’s.
“It is a very small thing that I should be judged by you”
It matters little whether you think well of me,
“or by a human court.”
or whether you condemn me.
“I do not even judge myself. For I know nothing against myself, yet I am not justified by this”,
It’s not even about what I think of myself or about me finding reasons to feel better about myself,
“but He who judges me is the Lord.”
but at the end of the day, it is about who I serve—the Lord and He has the final say.
I am the Lord’s.
And you know what? My Lord will love me to where I need to be.
“… being confident of this very thing, the He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ”
— Philippians 1:6
“Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ …”
—2 Corinthians 2:14
I am the Lord’s.
That’s the conclusion concerning me—about who I am, what I’m worth and where I stand.
So, though others may condemn me, in Christ I am free, and though others may reject me, I am accepted in the Beloved.
“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.”
— Romans 8:1
“to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.”
— Ephesians 1:6
I am free.
I am free to forgive unforgiveness and love them compassionately because hurt and lingering resentment is the consequence and nature of sin when I’ve offended another.
Jesus warned how unreconciled offense causes this, snowballing into a seemingly insurmountable debt (Matthew 5:23-26).
When I’ve offended another, I don’t get to dictate how or when they should have healed, or when they should release me from the prison of separation and suspicion, and restore me to relationship. This is why we actively seek to avoid sin at all cost, and seek to reconcile it as quickly as possible when it occurs.
Until those I’ve offended release me, I am free to love them, undefined by their unforgiveness.
As my pastor Gregory Jones was fond of saying, they’ve drawn a circle to exclude me, but I’m making a bigger circle to draw them in. I will minister the inexhaustible riches of God’s grace that He has lavished on me toward the debt that they hold against me.
My ultimate hope in doing so is to win a brother or sister in Christ because I am the Lord’s.
#christesteem
