Having Concern For Others
Notes
Transcript
By Being Faithful
By Being Faithful
3 Do not let kindness and truth leave you; Bind them around your neck, Write them on the tablet of your heart.
4 So you will find favor and good repute In the sight of God and man.
Kindness toward men is paired with truth (also translated firmness or faithfulness) toward men and God. This is a powerful combination. I think of nurses when I read this passage. They are kind toward their patients but they also persistent in that kindness. How many of you have been in the hospital and had a nurse com in every couple of hours to check your vital signs and to give you medication when you need it? As followers of Jesus Christ, we are to be persistently kind people.
Bind them around your neck = necklace
6 By lovingkindness and truth iniquity is atoned for, And by the fear of the Lord one keeps away from evil.
These are the same two words that are in 3:3. This atonement must be resolving iniquities between people. Even this cannot be done apart from faith (fear of the Lord).
6 Many a man proclaims his own loyalty, But who can find a trustworthy man?
Many people will project concern for people, but very few will actually act upon that concern. Many times I have said to someone who is really hurting or in a difficult circumstance, “anything I can do for you, just let me know.” and then I don’t follow through. May we be people who are faithful to our word so that others can trust us when they are in need.
19 Like a bad tooth and an unsteady foot Is confidence in a faithless man in time of trouble.
There are not too many things worse than a bad toothache. I remember getting an abscessed tooth once. I had to chomp on crushed ice for 2 days until the antibiotics knocked out the infection and then I could get the root canal that I needed. This verse describes what it is like for someone to be abandoned in their time of need. It is like getting a root canal or trying to walk on a sprained ankle.
By Showing Love and Compassion
By Showing Love and Compassion
12 Hatred stirs up strife, But love covers all transgressions.
literally the Hebrew reads, “but in contrast all transgressions covers love.” To make the comparison as stark as possible, this ver starts with hate and end with love.
covers like the flood covered over the earth.
The water prevailed more and more upon the earth, so that all the high mountains everywhere under the heavens were covered.
Proverbs 15:17 (NASB95)
17 Better is a dish of vegetables where love is Than a fattened ox served with hatred.
A fatted calf is one that has been raised in a stall and given the best feed; its meat is tender and delicious.
Joseph R. Sizoo says:
In a nearby city I visited one of the most luxurious estates I’ve ever seen in America. Within the house were Italian fireplaces, Belgian tapestries, Oriental rugs, and rare paintings. I said to a friend, “How happy the people must have been who lived here!” “But they weren’t,” he replied. “Although they were millionaires, the husband and wife never spoke to each other. This place was a hotbed of hatred! They had no love for God or for one another.” (Our Daily Bread).
5 He who mocks the poor taunts his Maker; He who rejoices at calamity will not go unpunished.
Notice that the writer connects the treatment of people to the treatment of God. Jesus said:
‘For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in;
naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’
“Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink?
‘And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You?
‘When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’
“The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’
17 Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, And do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles;
18 Or the Lord will see it and be displeased, And turn His anger away from him.
21 If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; And if he is thirsty, give him water to drink;
22 For you will heap burning coals on his head, And the Lord will reward you.
Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men.
If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.
Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.
“But if your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.”
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
By Showing Kindness and Mercy
By Showing Kindness and Mercy
16 A gracious woman attains honor, And ruthless men attain riches.
17 The merciful man does himself good, But the cruel man does himself harm.
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I know its not Christmas but verse 16 is aa description of Ebenezer Scrooge.
The British Medical Journal once said that there is not a tissue in the human body that is wholly removed from the spirit. A cruel disposition takes its toll on the body. One having such a temperament troubles his own flesh.
10 A righteous man has regard for the life of his animal, But even the compassion of the wicked is cruel.
There are many stories of people who said that loved animals, but can’t take care of them and the authorities have to come and remove 20 gaunt horses that are living on a small plot of land that is inadequate for that many horses. Or, dog fighters who reward with their so called kindness those dogs that fight the best and earn their owners lots of money.
25 Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs it down, But a good word makes it glad.
This verse shows us how to show kindness and mercy through the things that we say.
What encouraging words can you say to someone who is facing a major surgery? How can you lift up someone who has just lost everything in a fire?
The most anxious of thoughts is the weight of sin and eternal condemnation and the best good word is the gospel that Jesus has died on the cross was buried and has risen again so that anxious sinners can be forgiven.
10 The soul of the wicked desires evil; His neighbor finds no favor in his eyes.
favor = compassion
By Not Overstaying Your Welcome
By Not Overstaying Your Welcome
16 Have you found honey? Eat only what you need, That you not have it in excess and vomit it.
17 Let your foot rarely be in your neighbor’s house, Or he will become weary of you and hate you.
Too much of a good thing is not a good thing.
Some friends of ours have eight children, and they all love ice cream. On a hot summer day, one of the younger ones declared that she wished they could eat nothing but ice cream! The others chimed agreement, and to their surprise the father said, “All right. Tomorrow you can have all the ice cream you want—nothing but ice cream!” The children squealed with delight, and could hardly contain themselves until the next day. They came trooping down to breakfast shouting their orders for chocolate, strawberry, or vanilla ice cream—soup bowls full! Mid-morning snack—ice cream again. Lunch—ice cream, this time slightly smaller portions. When they came in for mid-afternoon snack, their mother was just taking some fresh muffins out of the oven, and the aroma wafted through the whole house.
“Oh goody!” said little Teddy. “Fresh muffins! My favorite!” He made a move for the jam cupboard, but his mother stopped him.
“Don’t you remember? It’s ice cream day—nothing but ice cream.”
“Oh yeah.…”
“Want to sit up for a bowl?”
“No thanks. Just give me a one-dip cone.”
By suppertime the enthusiasm for an all-ice-cream diet had waned considerably. As they sat staring at fresh bowls of ice cream, Mary—whose suggestion had started this whole adventure—looked up at her daddy and said, “Couldn’t we just trade in this ice cream for a crust of bread?”
It is wisdom, as well as good manners, not to be troublesome to our friends in our visiting them, not to visit too often, nor stay too long, nor contrive to come at meal-time, nor make ourselves busy in the affairs of their families; hereby we make ourselves cheap, mean, and burdensome.