Separated for His glory.

Matthew 10:37 “anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me”

Dr. E.J Waggoner said let man deplore divisions, and let them endeavor to promote harmony; but let them labor only for the Bible union, and not fear to say, with Joshua, “choose you this day whom ye will serve…but as for me, and my home, we will serve the Lord.” 

While in the process of dying to the flesh, and breaking ungodly habits, I found it difficult to be around some of the people I care about, partly because of my personality, as I was also in the process of detaching from my people-pleasing self in order to avoid compromising my faith. For those reasons, I felt it necessary to separate myself as I walk in God's will for me. Now, separating myself doesn’t mean that I was not preaching the word of God to these persons or praying for them. It means that I was putting God first by setting limits within that relationship. We must involve ourselves in what will strengthen us spiritually and not weaken our stand in Christ. Mark 3:24 says that if a kingdom is divided against itself, it cannot stand. Therefore, we need to take heed to not walk in the ways of the world and avoid the circumstances that led us to sin, in the past. When we are idolizing relationships out of not wanting to hurt or disappoint the ones we love by condoning certain situations and behaviors, that’s no longer who we are in Christ and goes against the word of God, this allows the enemy to take advantage of us and dampen our spiritual walk and authority in Jesus. Not to mention, we don’t have the time. As said in Ecclesiastes 9:1, “no man knows when his hour will come.” The Lord has so much planned for us and now is the time to pursue spiritual growth. 

Matthew 10:38-39, “Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.”

While some relationships can be saved, some will need to come to an end for some of us. Setting boundaries is crucial as women and men of God. And, to be clear, I am in no way trivializing how emotionally hard it can be to separate from the people we love or to change the dynamics of the relationship that we are in. It was certainly not easy for me. But while these separations and changes in my relationships brought tears—fear and reverence for the Lord kept me going. Jesus filled me with His peace as I drew closer to Him. I count it a blessing to be shunned to the “boring” category, according to the carnal mind, because of my stand against the things against God. As mentioned in practically all of Ecclesiastes, “It is all vanity” if we don’t have God as our main focus. No one can save us but Jesus. All that matters in the end is did we live for Jesus. Are you a good and faithful servant of the Lord? He should be our top priority; without Him, we are nothing but lost sheep on the path of destruction. (John 15:5 and Matthew 7:13-14). Have faith and trust that the path the Lord chooses for you is working out for your good, even if at the moment it’s a little difficult. 

Romans 8:28, “And we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose”

Many blessings to you!



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