Restore With Love
I am sure many of you can relate to loving somebody so much that you have placed them high upon a pedestal. However, what do you do when that person is making decisions that are destructive and dreadful? I am watching a friend of mine go through this situation. The only thing I can say is that you must allow people to make their own decisions.
You can also sit back and love unconditionally, you can be supportive when given the chance, you can throw a life raft if necessary and you can continue to reach out in love. The most important thing you can do when watching someone stray down the wrong path is to lift up that person in prayer before God.
I guess I am really sharing this today more for myself than for anyone else because it is a very dear friend of mine struggling through this. If you have a friend or family member in a similar situation try to be gentle in restoring that person back to where they need to be. Love them as Christ loves them, with tender mercy and grace.
We have specific instructions that we can follow when we see a fellow Christian struggling with sin. Read Galatians 6:1-2 (Amplified):
“BRETHREN, IF any person is overtaken in misconduct or sin of any sort, you who are spiritual [who are responsive to and controlled by the Spirit] should set him right and restore and reinstate him, without any sense of superiority and with all gentleness, keeping an attentive eye on yourself, lest you should be tempted also. Bear (endure, carry) one another’s burdens and troublesome moral faults, and in this way fulfill and observe perfectly the law of Christ (the Messiah) and complete what is lacking [in your obedience to it].”
