Daily Bible Study

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Day 50 Matthew 18:15 Matthew 18:15 Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. 16 But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. 17 And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as a heathen man and a publican. Before a person tells another about something they did wrong, they tell it to the world, so the person in the wrong finds out by way of the gossip machine. You see evidence of it every day with the tabloids and even what passes for news about celebrity and political figures. Jesus told his disciples there was a better way to go about telling someone they were in the wrong – tell it to them alone, and if that didn’t work, take reliable witnesses with them to tell the person their fault, only when that didn’t work, and the person still would not listen, then they were to take it to the church. He did not say to tell it to the world. He did say the final step was to treat the person like a heathen or publican. They were the lowest people of society. As Christians, you know gossip is a sin, and something you are not to partake in, on any level. It is always best to confront the person about what they did, instead of making it headline news on Facebook or social media. You only make enemies when you post it for the world to see. You also create a media circus out of the situation, and nobody likes media circuses except gossip hounds. Friendship is hard to come by today because nobody trusts anybody. If people would learn to go to the person about a problem they have, the world would be a better place to live in. Friends make it personal not public. Let’s pray: Father, help me take any issue I have with someone to the person involved, and not make a public scandal of it. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen. Copyright © 8 June 2018 by Valerie Routhieaux Image courtesy of Pixabay