Are You Better Than Someone Jesus Died for?

I think my parents did a pretty balanced job of raising me. I was taught that no one was better than me and that I am no better than anyone else.

A while back I was listening to a documentary on NPR , talking about how awkward it was for people who served as maids and butlers to become successful and turn around and have their own maids and butlers. To me it would not be awkward at all. I have actually had to hire a temporary housekeeper at times when I became so busy with multiple jobs. There were also times when I did some housekeeping or landscaping work myself to make extra money. When I was working for someone in their home I never thought of them as better than me, and when someone was working in my home, I never thought I was better than they. I just thought we were all just helping each other out as we made our way through life.

However some people are tempted to think they are better than others. Having worked with youth and families in churches and schools, I have learned there are two types of parents. One type of parent teaches their kids not to act like they are better than anyone else. The other group teaches their kids they aren’t better than anyone else. Even with my professedly balanced upbringing, I have had to tell myself, “If I shouldn’t say something condescending then I should not even think it.”

Here are some ideas that help to keep me humble – as if all my mistakes and failures were not enough.

If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? 1 John 4:20 NKJV

I understand the word “love” here is “agape.” Agape is the love God has for bad people. Of course God is good; so he does not need our agape, since He actually earns our love. So what I understand John saying here is this, “If you say you would agape God and love Him even if He were bad, prove it by loving your brother who really is bad. Speaking on this passage I once heard Wintley Phipps say, “Our love for God is no stronger than the love we have for the person we love the least.”

How could I be too good to love someone whom Jesus loves?

Speaking of the least, Jesus says,

‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’ Matthew 25:40 NKJV

Jesus gave His life for sinners. If the least of sinners needs my time and help, and I shrug them off as not worth my time or money, then I have just put myself above Jesus. No matter how smart, rich or talented I think I am, if I think a sinner is not worth my time and effort after Jesus gave His life for them, then I must think I’m greater than Jesus!

For indeed He does not give aid to angels, but He does give aid to the seed of Abraham. Hebrews 2:16 NKJV

How could I be too good to help someone whom Jesus helps?

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8 NKJV

How could I be too good to die for someone for whom Jesus died?

Our attitude towards the least of these shows our attitude towards Jesus.

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Comments

Are You Better Than Someone Jesus Died for? — 8 Comments

Gale Storm on February 14, 2023 at 7:49 am said:

Thank you for so many “wow” thoughts

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Richard Ferguson on February 15, 2023 at 6:58 am said:

Of course God is good; so he does not need our agape, since He actually earns our love.

God earns our love, but we cannot earn his. It is his gift to us.

Good thought.

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Noma Sithandwa on February 15, 2023 at 9:20 am said:

God help me to teach my children not to act like they are better than anyone else but to know that they are not better than anyone else, may l also know that as well 🙏

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Raewyn on February 15, 2023 at 3:23 pm said:

Some Christians rationalise that while they have made wise choices, sinners have made wrong choices, therefore don't deserve our help.

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- R. G. White on February 17, 2023 at 3:51 am said:
  
  I hear you, Raewyn. Maybe it starts with our ideas of how we came to Jesus. We may be guilty of taking the truth of free will to unwarranted extremes, and secretly pat ourselves on the back for having chosen to follow Him. Yet He says:
  
  "You did not choose Me, but I chose you..." John 15:16 NKJV
  
  and
  
  "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him..." John 6:44 NKJV
  
  Salvation is "not of works, lest anyone should boast" (Ephesians 2:9), and having the good sense, etc. to choose Jesus would be a good work, would it not?
  
  I'm afraid we owe everything to Jesus, even the desire to receive what He has to offer.
  
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Brigitte Humphery on February 17, 2023 at 11:57 am said:

Once I started to see all of humanity as brothers and sisters in the context of us being created beings, endowed with the breath of life and equal in the design of being children of the same Creator Father, this helped me understand there is no difference in ‘value’ between the one saved and the one not yet saved; all depend on God’s Mercy and Grace to sustain us in life.

We cannot exist outside of the provisions God’s design established to govern life by; everything depends on Him. Some know this Truth and some do not. All lives are equally dependend on God; there is no 'life' outside of that which our heavenly Father established for the species 'man'.

We are sisters and brothers in the flesh as human beings, as faithful followers of the Gospel of Jesus Christ we also become brothers and sisters in the spirit of Christ. We are never in a position of living independent from God - not as one still needing to be found nor as the one already safely home.

As I see it, there are no ‘least’ or more ‘privileged’ in the eyes of God - we are all equally in need of our Savior. It is the perception of the human heart who assignes this lable to our fellow man because we assess his 'value' based on the accumulation of material wealth, or for that matter, on whether he is saved or not. As our new heart changes its perseption, our mind will not make such a destinction any longer.

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Rosamund W-Gibbons on February 17, 2023 at 7:04 pm said:

Wow! I've never seen it put this way, before: Indeed, we are all equal at the foot of the cross! I must, therefore love each being for whom my Saviour died.

Zechariah 7:9,10
Anoint me, Holy Spirit, that I may be your hands and feet, your voice of encouragement and comfort to the destitute, your voice of freedom and liberty to the prisoner and the oppressed, and your provision of spiritual eye-salve to those who seek to see you both physically and spiritually.

Lev. 23:22; Psalm 82:3,4
Give me the heart of God, that I may show empathy: seek to provide for those less fortunate than I am. May my possessions be obtained by Your blessing; and, may I always help fund your bidding.

Luke 5:27-32; 19:8
May I use my gifts, talents and skills to teach/direct all whom I meet - rich or poor - to know the Saviour.

Heb 13:16
May I remember to reflect God's goodness, as did Job, doing my honest part while going on God's errands. Amen.

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William Earnhardt on February 20, 2023 at 5:55 am said:

Thank you all for your thoughtful comments. Happy new week!

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