Bible Reading: III John
Key Verse: Verse 10 - “Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth, prating against us with malicious words: and not content therewith, neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that would, and casteth them out of the church.”
Key Words: I will
remember his deeds
It almost sounds as if
John...remember John, he is the apostle who wrote more about love than any of
the others...is unloving and unforgiving when he says about Diotrephes, “I will
remember his deeds.” The truth is that
love, while forgiving others, does rebuke and correct as well.
Revelation 3:19, “As many as I
love, I rebuke and chasten.”
I Peter 2:16, regarding Balaam we
are told, “But was rebuked for his iniquity.”
So when John talks about
remembering his deeds, I have little doubt that the Apostle John called his
hand and rebuked him in love as well. If
you read verse 11 you will see that John doesn’t believe Diotrephes to be a
saved man or at least very backslidden.
Either way, a rebuke given in anger would accomplish nothing.
John Wesley and a preacher-friend
of plain habits were once invited to dinner where the host’s daughter, noted
for her beauty, had been profoundly impressed by Wesley’s preaching. During a pause in the meal, Wesley’s friend
took the young woman’s hand and called attention to the sparkling rings she
wore. “What do you think of this, sir,
for a Methodist hand?”
The girl turned crimson. Wesley likewise was embarrassed, for his
aversion to jewelry was only too well known.
But with a benevolent smile, he simply said, “The hand is very beautiful.”
Wesley’s remark both cooled the
too-hot water poured by his friend and made the foot-washing gentle. The young woman appeared at the evening
service without her jewels and became a strong Christian.
We would do well when we remember
the deeds of others not to simply rebuke, but to humbly rebuke in love.
What to do:
✞Remember to rebuke in love.
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