'You shall not oppress a sojourner. You know the heart of a sojourner, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt .'

Exodus 23:9

How saddening it is to see the humbly blushing bride of Christ behaving as the self-seeking Eve whose example we've come to detest. It is pride-driven fear that spawns the reaction of the saints to reject others based on their 'estimable' merit. We have become judge and jury. We have proclaimed ourselves to be the supreme decision-makers over those whose struggles we do not share. We have proclaimed ourselves to be God. There is filthy judgment being spewed the world over, which seems to have almost entirely taken the place of the grace we've been given to give. The irony lies in the fact that we have been supplied richly with grace to pour out on others, and have been given no permission whatsoever to pour out the judgment we've laid claim to.

What is it that gives us right standing with God in the first place? Is it not grace? Have we won over the heart of God through our meritorious efforts at righteousness? Have we succeeded in impressing God to the point that He has hand-selected us as the cream of His human crop? No, it is only by grace that we get to stand before the Almighty with perfect confidence. Confidence in what? In the finished work of Christ Jesus on our behalf. His blood spilled covers the blood we've spilled. Plain and simple.

What are the beautiful words of Paul to Titus in the third chapter of his letter? We are to 'Speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people. For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.'

This wonderful command is referring not only to the saints, the sojourners, the dropouts who have been called to a heavenly calling, but also to those who've not yet become as we are. Paul exhorts us with the reminder that only when the loving kindness of God appeared on our behalf did we have any sort of hope at all. We should not—no, we MUST not—ever deny someone the love we've been given. We cannot justify withholding the grace of God from someone any more than we could justify standing idly by as a woman is raped and murdered before our eyes. The two are equally evil. Grace is not just an aspect of Christianity, it is the lifeblood of it. To pick and choose whom we will love and whom we will have grace with is tantamount to the mentality of men like Adolf Hitler or any abortion doctor. It is no trivial thing to say 'oh, that person annoys me' or 'that guy looks like a punk' or 'she's really weird' or 'that family listens to secular music, so I'm just gonna ignore them'. Of course most of us would never actually say that, but when pride creeps into our hearts, we start thinking very highly of ourselves, forgetting just how pathetic and worthless we are without the blood of Jesus covering us. But the same blood that has washed us is the same blood that has washed them, and we are no cleaner than anyone else cleansed by it, and we are no better than anyone who has yet to be cleansed. We must stop with our pride-driven efforts to occupy the throne of God and instead humbly accept and pour out the grace we're given. 'If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates (denies grace) his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. ' This is the simplest summary of all this. To deny somebody grace is to hate them. It is time to deny ourselves and show love to EVERY person God has ordained for us to know.