Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Galatians 6:1
The word “restore” in the verse above is from a Greek word that was used for fixing a broken bone. Even in ancient Greece and Italy doctors fixed broken bones. ''
Paul says that Christians need to fix the spiritual broken bone of Christians who have stumbled from the faith. We must carefully look at the fallen brother and see what needs to be fixed. Then we must carefully set the problem in order and put a splint or cast on it to help it heal.
This means we must be patient sometimes with the fallen brother. Some problems will take time to heal. And we must know what kind of cast to use to help it heal. We must be gentle but firm as we put the bones back in place. Sometimes the doctor must put very firm pressure on the bones to get them back in place. It hurts the patient a great deal. The doctor does his best to not make it hurt too much. But the doctor and patient both know that sometimes the hurt must happen for the bone to heal right. Sometimes spiritually broken bones will require the person to hurt a great deal. We must let the person know that the hurt is necessary for the proper healing to take place.
(Mark McWhorter, Copyright 1999, Published by The Old Paths Bible School, http://www.oldpaths.org)
What a beautiful analogy of the repentence process. Even the little things are painful when we realize we need to repent. But just like a broken bone, we will end up stronger in the broken place if we allow the Great Healer to work on us.
ReplyDeleteThis post touched my heart.