"Peter seeing him, said to Jesus, 'But Lord, what about this man?' (22) Jesus said to him, 'If I will that he remain til I come, what is that to you? You follow Me.'
John 21:21-22. NKJV
Many times we become concerned about what other people are doing or not doing. If we're not careful, we can become fixated on it. Here, it is almost as if Jesus is saying, 'Never mind about him, what about you? You do what I've told you to do, I'll take care of him.' In other words, keep your nose out of their business.
We can become so wrapped up in other people's business, that we neglect the things that we do. Just think, the person we've been talking to God about. may well be doing the same about us. Let's wash our own car, the other person's car may well be dirty, but they will wash theirs when they're ready.
Jesus will not take sides, we need to realise that. He'll always point us back to what we're doing or not doing. Bob Gass says, 'The only thing you can change about another person, is your attitude towards them.'
If we concentrated on God, as much as we concentrate on other people, we would be flowing high in the Holy Spirit. He is the most important person in our lives, not the other person who we feel is neglecting to live up to our standards. Think about that for a moment; the person may not be living up to the standards we expect them to, but they may well be living up to God's. This is easy to figure out - it's us who has the problem with the person, not God. Let's wash our own car, they'll wash theirs when they're ready.
Some people may well be living in error and we may have recognised this. If God directs us to become involved, that is ok. If not, leave it alone. God is far more able and qualified than we are. We need to get wisdom on it and act on His Word.
Do you know something? We're not loved because we deserve it; we're loved because God has made us worthy. Really as human beings on our own, we're weaklings; but with God, we're champions. Now champions don't always keep their title, they can sometimes lose their crowns, but they still fight on to regain their title. They may well have weaknesses that they're working on in order to get back into tip-top shape. It all comes by practice.
In our Christian life, people may not measure up to how we think they should be; but we don't know the struggles that they have. Possibly they're doing the best they can do at this time. They're a work in progress, so let's cut them some slack. Their car may appear dirty to us, but they may prefer it that way at this moment.
Copyriight 2020 Grahame Howard
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