| When Godly Men Fall Mar. 28, 2007 |
2 Samuel 12:7, 9, 13 NKJV 7 Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the LORD God of Israel: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. 9 Why have you despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in His sight? You have killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword; you have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the people of Ammon. 13 So David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.” There is a desperate cry today for authentic leaders. Leaders are not expected to be perfect, just truthful. In his book "Job" Charles Swindoll states, "Our heroes do not have to be perfect. They must, however be courageous, authentic, clear- minded, and determined to endure no matter the sacrifice or cost." David who's called a man after God's own heart committed adultery and murder and was going to go on like everything was ok. But it all started with a look. A glance into Bathsheba's bathroom window. Had David resisted the temptation, Uriah may not of lost his life. Sexual temptation has taken down some of the best of God's elect. Many pastors and spiritual leaders fall into sexual sin and because of the embarrassment they isolate themselves, which gives the enemy more opportunity to torment their minds. When godly people sin, they don't need to be embarrassed, they need to be embraced. They don't need to be criticized, they need compassion. Yes, correction is all the means necessary, but so is love and prayer. We as the church have a responsibility to come together and pray for our spiritual leaders, and if they do fall, we need to pray and fast all the more so that God will put them back in their rightful places. When Jesus sent out the seventy-two he sent them out in pairs. It's up to the church to come together and lift those up who we are under. We all fall at times, and at times we all sin. We all even have ungodly and lustful thoughts at times. That is why we fight our battles on our knees. And when we fight our battles on our knees, God will give us and our spiritual leaders the victory in public. Let us not take this battle lightly. Sexual temptation is a battle that we have to win. We must win. We will win. I hope you enjoyed reading the word of God in a new light. Have a Happy Wednesday! God Bless, Minister Tommy & Sis. Shatika Gray |