Today, as I was counseling a soldier, I was reminded of a convicting experience in my early days as a believer in Jesus Christ.
I was on a backpacking trip with my youth group, and one kid in my group was constantly making fun of other people. It wasn't even funny--just mean and nasty. Naturally, most of the rest of us started talking about this kid behind his back. "What a jerk!" But over the course of the trip, we each had an opportunity to share our "testimony" (life story, and if applicable, how we came to know the grace of Jesus Christ).
When this kid shared, everybody's jaws dropped. He talked about abuse, having cigarettes put out on his skin--a life completely void of love. Right after this kid talked, I remember another guy saying "Man, now I feel like crap." We all felt a sense of shame for labeling this kid by his words and actions, rather than looking at the heart and showing empathy.
I joke that I counsel two soldiers in a day--each of whom talk horribly about the other, and then share incredible stories of heartache that no one else can possibly understand. In our sin and suffering, we line up and shoot at another person with the same wounds. We step closer and realize we shot ourselves.
My friends, we know our brokenness before the Lord. In Jesus Christ, He has forgiven us of our sin and given hope to our suffering. Let us not condemn our fellow, broken sinner, but seek to bind his wounds with the salve of the Gospel.
"He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. As a father shows compassion to his children, so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him." (Psalm 103:10-13)
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