Whatever you did

“I assure you: Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me.” Matthew 25:40 HCSB

Jesus is telling of a time when the Son of Man will come in all of His glory and He will separate the sheep from the goats.  He is separating those who are true believers from those who do not believe.  There is an element in this parable that should cause us to be uncomfortable.   He is addressing a group of people who think they are sheep.  They count themselves as one of the believers, but in reality they are goats.  The difference is how they treat Christians, Christ followers.  How we treat other, especially other Christians matter to Jesus.

The church today is filled with people who profess Christ but in reality they are more concerned with self.  Self idolization is a part of our culture and it is very hard to break.  If I am totally honest with myself, I have been in this category and I pray to God to forgive me.  But how we treat other Christians makes all the difference.  Jesus said, “A tree is judged by its fruit.” How do you look at other brothers and sisters in Christ?  Especially when they don’t quite believe the same way you do.  We need to be very careful in the way we speak of others, especially other Christians.  We need to encourage and build up others, to think of others more than ourselves, to live Christ in front of them, in our words and actions.  

 Lord help us today to think of others before our self.  To see people the way you see people.  Lord thank you for giving us an example to follow in yourself.  Thank for loving us, despite our many short comings.  Amen