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DON’T DEFEND My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense--Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 1 John 2:1 It’s been said that any lawyer who represents himself has a fool for a client. How true! It’s not only true in a court of law, but it’s also true in the court of relationships. Successful relationships require –get this now- “Never defending yourself!” Are you crazy? Never? That’s right, never! “Where’s that in the Bible?” you say. In James 2 Paul tells us to have the attitude that we would not grasp for our rights –even the right to defend ourselves- but rather that we would empty ourselves to become a servant for the needs of others. You see, when we surrender the right to defend ourselves, then Jesus, our “Advocate with the Father” steps in. And you know what? He can do a much better job defending us than we can. As in any lawyer-client relationship, however, we have to step aside and let Him do it. We can’t help Him or do it for Him. It’s almost like Jesus is just waiting for us to quit trying to defend ourselves so He can step in and do it. We can’t both do it. If we want to defend ourselves He will honor our choice and step aside. But if you’ll notice, every time you try to defend yourself you probably blow it. But if we’ll step aside and let Jesus do it, I guarantee He can do a much better job than you can. But can you trust your attorney? He has a special relationship with the judge: He’s his son! But on the other hand, He won’t compromise the truth. When we defend ourselves we do two things that work against us. First of all, we demonstrate that we are not concerned with the other person’s needs, because we’re focused on defending or justifying ourselves. You can’t be thinking of the other person and yourself at the same time! Secondly, we demonstrate a lack of trust in Jesus’ ability to defend us adequately, so we feel we have to do it ourselves. So, the bottom line is will we trust our advocate to defend us, or will we continue to take it into our own hands and continue to do as well as we have in the past? The choice, as always, is ours. The power, as always, is His! Don’t defend! Question For The Both of Us: When do we get defensive or feel the need to defend ourselves? How has that effected our communication? Our relationship? Prayer For The Both of Us: Lord, help us to trust. Help us to trust you for our defense, so that we can focus on the needs of one another. Help us to not be that lawyer who insists on defending himself and thus has a fool for a client. Help us to trust our advocate with the Father. |
© 2007 Marriage & Family Savers Ministries