Turn Around!
Posted by Sharon
Have any Christian friends who are headed down the wrong path? Maybe they’re making choices that don’t lead them closer to God or caught in a pattern of sin or addiction they can’t escape. List a few names or initials that come to mind.
Read Jeremiah 8:4-7.
The prophet’s orders were clear: confront God’s people about their sin. It was a tall order, especially since Judah’s leaders were a major part of the problem. Jeremiah would literally be risking his life if he obeyed. But he did, and not just because God wanted him to do it. Jeremiah cared for the people, too.
Think about the people whose names you listed earlier. Are any of them hardened toward repentance? Why?
How is keeping someone accountable different from condemning them?
As a Christian, do you think it’s part of your duty to hold other believers accountable or to call them back from sin? Why or why not?
If you believe it is, how does that idea make you feel? Explain.
THE POINT
You were never meant to live the Christian life alone. God wants us to live in community with other believers who love us enough to call us back from sin when we start heading down the wrong road. We’re to do so with compassion and love, not condemnation.
TAKE ACTION
Look over that list of names you created earlier. Pray for your friends. If you believe God is calling you to hold someone accountable, take time to pray for courage right now. Ask God to give you the right words to say, and then find a way to reach out to that friend.
Accountability— noun
-an obligation or willingness to accept responsibility or to account for one’s actions.
Condemnation— noun
-express complete disapproval of, typically in public; censure.
-find (someone) guilty of a criminal act or wrong.
-sentence (someone) to a particular punishment
Posted in Devotions, Girls | Tagged Camp Crestridge, Jeremiah 8, Reprinted from ec magazine. © 2012 LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention. Used by permission., Ridgecrest Summer Camps