January 3rd

Those That Oppose Themselves

2 Timothy 2:24 And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient,
2 Timothy 2:25 In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;
2 Timothy 2:26 And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.

The Servant of the Lord Must Not Strive

Paul the Apostle, in this passage of his letter to Timothy, is instructing Timothy concerning the proper behavior of a servant of the Lord. More specifically, he is speaking of one who shepherds a church, one who leads and teaches people, a pastor, the office in which Timothy himself served.

Those That Oppose Themselves

But possibly the larger subject of this passage is “those that oppose themselves”, or those who set themselves in opposition, who are caught in the snare of the devil, taken captive at his pleasure and will.

The Devil’s Devices

The devil is real, and he is a master manipulator, an expert deceiver, who has been at his craft for eons of time. The Bible says that we are not ignorant of his devices, but until we learn to recognize his ways, we are indeed somewhat ignorant of him as well as being vulnerable to his maneuvers and strategies.

Misperception of Motives

One of the ways we fail to recognize the working of the devil is in his ability to manipulate our thinking. When a person becomes offended with another person, which happens fairly often in human interaction, there is, in many cases, a misunderstanding in the mind of the one who is offended, a misperception concerning the motives of the offender.

The devil is behind that misperception of the other person’s motives. In the garden of Eden, the serpent told Eve that God did not want them to eat of the forbidden fruit because it would make them wise, and that God was somehow against that. He painted a false picture of God’s motives in telling them not to eat of a specific fruit, and that false impression of God’s motives made it easy for her to disobey Him.

Unchecked Misperceptions

The problem occurs when we don’t question our perception of the other person’s motives, and we act as if that perception is perfectly accurate. People sometimes stay angry for years, in the exact frame of heart and mind that the devil wants them in. They are taken captive by the devil at his will, and they don’t even have a clue that is has happened.

Are you offended at someone today? Are you certain that your perception of what happened is accurate? Jesus said that we should go to that person and talk. When we do that, we often find out that we were wrong in what we thought. And, even if we were not wrong, God calls us to forgive and to be at peace with all men. Don’t let these things go unchecked. Unforgiveness hinders the individual Christian life, and stops the blessing of God. It’s too expensive. Get yourself free from that snare today.