RESTORATION
Galatians 6:1 NKJV
6 Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted.
This is a great chapter. Chapter six contains an explanation of the powerful spiritual principle of sowing and reaping. God is not mocked whatever we sow we reap. My mom used that one on me frequently, especially during my teen years. She came at it from the negative. Sow negative seeds and reap a negative harvest. But it also works on the positive side. Sow good seeds and reap a good harvest.
Our verse for today deals with the subject of restoration. But this is restoration stemming from believers restoring someone who is caught up in a sin. The word trespass can be a lapse, an error, or a mistake. Someone has messed up so what do we do with them?
The instructions are to restore this person. Oh, and there is a caveat. You who are spiritual restore this person. Help this person get back on track. So, the spiritual person is going to help this person see what is going on that is wrong, receive forgiveness, and stop whatever it is that is causing them trouble. Restore is to mend, to put back in the original position. So, the person who has messed up will be out of their erroneous ways and back to a good position with the Lord.
And there is another caveat. Not only must the person doing the restoring be someone who is spiritual, meaning someone who is walking in the spirit as per yesterday’s devotional. The person doing the restoring must restore in a spirit of gentleness. The word gentleness can imply meekness, consideration, and humility. If we think of gentle, we do not think of being harsh. The reason behind a spirit of gentleness is that we have to consider that we are not perfect. We are recipients of God’s grace. If not for His grace and love toward us, we could have and may have been involved in things far worse. So we are to restore in a gentle way, remembering where we have come from. God has been merciful with us, and we need to be merciful with others.
And there is another reason for gentle restoration. So we are not tempted. So, we do not open up our lives to the temptation of the enemy due to pride. Pride is not gentle. Pride carries a sense of superiority that is misplaced. Proverbs tells us that pride precedes a fall. And that God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble. We want and need more grace, not more temptation.
Many years ago, the Lord had me go to a man that I attended Bible school with. His trespass was in the way he was treating his wife. He was not providing and putting her in a pressured situation and had done so for years. I did not want to go and was hesitant even as I spoke with him about his marriage. But I did obey what the Lord had me do. My attempt at restoration came with a warning that if things did not change, he could lose his marriage and his family. I wish I could say he listened, but I could tell he pretty much ignored what I had to say. I am sure I could have done a better job. It is not something that I relished doing. And I remember weeping as I drove home. He was not unkind to me but acted as if I had never said a thing. He wound up losing his marriage.
Restoration is not for us to gloat about how right we are and how wrong another is. Restoration is for their benefit. We are to help our brothers and sisters in the Lord get back on the right path. We want to see them do well, not wind up in bad situations.
PRAYER
Lord, show me how to restore someone in the right spirit. I want to see others blessed, not hurt.