[c] May 22, 2015 Diane Hearn
Especially when they buy into the liberal media's attack on anyone who maybe conservative or a worse yet, a Christian.
They spend a lot of time digging for any past discretion no matter how big or how small to attack & destroy. They are quite successful at it too.
There isn't a day that goes by that we see story after story in the news of conservative celebrities, politicians, folks from all walks of life being judged unworthy. The most recent story being chewed on is Josh Duggar of a television show called 19 Kids & Counting.
Let me say from the start I Do Not Condone what he did as a 14 year old It was despicable & shameful.
Yet I need to point out, the media's reporting is slanted in such as way as if he did this at his present age of 27.
Even with his public statements of admission & repentance the stones continue to be thrown at he & his family.
As a parent, it is excruciating to see one's child especially during the teenage years make bad, even unthinkable choices, ...to see them fall. Yet I see comments that rush to condemn the parents. Saying they covered it up etc.
However, his parents from all accounts Did not cover it up.
They at the time it occurred made their son aware of his sin. They made him atone & apologize for his behavior to the girls & their families. His parents also made sure he was in counseling as well as getting counseling for the girls who were the same age as he at the time.
“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses." ~ Matthew 18:15-16
Frankly when someone is a kid or teenager they do a LOT of stupid things. They will cross the line of what is appropriate & what is not. Some even venture into illegal acts that scar them & others for life. And depending on their support system at home they will either continue to embrace that wrong path or turn toward God & learn a better way of being.
For those who learned from their mistakes & bad choices ... who are we to continue to cast stones at them.
As believers in Christ we must stand back from those who are the mud slingers & their "gotcha" tactics. We must not join them but be forgiving towards those who have repented ...
"If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." ~ 2 Chronicles 7:14
" Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you." ~ Ephesians 4:31-32
My advise for those of us all, (Be We in the Public Eye or Not)... is to understand that while the Lord forgives & puts our past sin's away the world does not.
And so we must make sure that we learn from our failures in life & use those failures as a great testimony of how we overcome ...
how we NOW make better choices & have moved forward in life with the Guiding Hand of Jesus.
"Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead," ~ Philippians 3:13
"My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me;" ~ John 10:27
As for the "gotcha" so called journalists & those who support the agenda of humiliating & attacking anyone who has a conservative view contrary to theirs into submission or silence. To them I say this: I will not hide from you & your stones. I do not hate you. I will continue to pray for you.
"But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you," ~ Matthew 5:44
Jesus: "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first."~John 15:18
"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." ~ Galatians 6:9
We must also remember we are being watched closely so our behavior in life does matter. We are to reflect Jesus, not the world.
"but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked."
~ 1 John 2:5-6
"Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. ~ Matthew 5:16
Getting down from my soapbox now. God be with you!
