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“The righteous is concerned for the rights of the poor,
the wicked does not understand such concern” (Proverbs 29:7).
After the first murder, God went to Cain and inquired about Abel. “Where is your brother?” He asked the guilty man. With his reply, Cain displayed a total self-centeredness and disregard for others. “Am I my brother’s keeper?” he asked (Gen. 4:9).
That attitude is typical of all mankind, because all have inherited Adam’s self-centered nature, the Bible says [Rom. 5:12]. When we by faith receive Jesus Christ as Savior we receive a new nature–an unselfish nature, the very nature of God.
“…Put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness” (Eph. 4:24).
Still, Christians tend to go on following many self-centered patterns of their former nature until they discover who they really are in Christ. We’re freed from the old ways only as we let Him live in us and through us.
[Paul expressed this conviction: “To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. To this end I also labor, striving according to His working which works in me mightily” Col. 1:27-29.]
One of the old nature’s strongest tendencies is to think only of its own problems. Most Christians who seek help through my ministry exhibit that very tendency. They are totally preoccupied with whatever is troubling them. I can always tell when someone sees the light regarding God’s grace and their union with Jesus. Their thoughts immediately turn from themselves to other people.
“Oh, how I wish my (husband, wife, brother, sister, friend) could hear this!” they will say.
When God’s love for us becomes real, we become concerned beings. We realize we are our brother’s keeper, and rejoice in it!
From Jim’s daily devotional book, Face to Face: A Daily Reflection of Your Life in Christ. It is available as a Kindle ebook at Amazon.com here.
See also the devotional book by Peggy Cox, God Doesn’t Really Live in Colorado: One Woman’s Conversations with the Father at Amazon.com