J.J. Stark
March 2016
Week 9
IGNITE
Class 10
Inductive
Bible Study – (IBS)
Gain
Your Brother
“Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault
between you and him alone. If he hears
you, you have gained your brother.” – Matthew 18:15
Brothers…gotta love ‘em...
Growing up as the oldest of four
boys, I have definitely had my fair share of fights and quarrels with them, and
also witnessed many more contentions between them. Needless to say, Matthew 18:15 is a verse
that is very much alive in my life. It
also hits me in an area of my life that I am still very much weak in: anger
with my brothers. Anyone with brothers
can identify with this in some way, as brothers can always somehow find those
certain buttons of aggravation. That being
said, it must also be brought to light that for me, it wasn’t very hard for my
brothers to get at my buttons because the littlest things used to set me
off. I love my brothers to death, but I
won’t deny that they also were/are very good at pushing my buttons if they so
desire!! With that taken into
consideration, the first sentence of Matthew 18:15 – “Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault
between you and him alone,” has been a tremendous struggle for me in the
past. The whole “go and tell him his fault between you and him alone” thing was
something that I very rarely did correctly.
If there was any sort of fault, you could bet your bottom dollar I’d be
the first one to make a commotion about it, it didn’t matter whether it was
publicly or privately. It shames me to
say that most times it wasn’t even an issue worth being discussed, let alone
flying of the handle about. I am a prime
example of Proverbs 15:1 – “A soft answer
turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger,” and Proverbs 14:29 – “He who is slow to wrath has great
understanding, but he who is impulsive exalts folly.” Often I would answer some smart remark from
them impulsively with a harsh reply that would stir up piles of anger, and make
myself look very foolish in the end.
This brings to life Proverbs 18:19 “A
brother offended is harder to win than a strong city, and contentions are like
the bars of a castle.” I have been
on both sides of this road, though it usually has been on the side of offending rather than offended, unfortunately. This verse is so true, speaking from the
times I have been offended by something my brothers have done, it is so easy to
pack a grudge for any amount of time.
That grudge can sit there and fester and become like an infected sore,
which takes time to heal. But if
resolved or taken care of quickly, in the love of Christ, that sore heals
faster, rebuilding the relationship quicker.
Proverbs 17:17 “A friend loves at
all times, and a brother is born for adversity.” This is something I know the Lord has been
changing in my life. It is interesting
that when you step away from someone for a while that you begin to realize the
qualities of that person. During my time
here at IGNITE God has peeled off any contradictory feelings or thoughts about
my brothers, and He has cultivated a genuine kind of love for my brothers that
I haven’t had before. For them, I not
only need to be a friend that loves at all times, but a brother that loves at all times, so that I can be a brother for
adversity.
Applications:
1.
Today,
I will visit with two of my Christian brothers about their lives, and how I can
support them in any way possible.
2.
Next
time I have phone access, I will call and visit with my brothers at home and
ask for their forgiveness on past quarrels we have been in.
😘😍😍😍
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