Monday, June 15, 2015

1 Timothy, Chapter 5, Verse 20

Reprimand publicly those who do sin, so that the rest also will be afraid.

It is better to scorn a child than to let them walk into real danger. If we follow the advice of Timothy we may wound someone’s pride in order to save their soul. The priest sandal that has so wounded our church is because we failed to follow this advice. Nothing ever gets better if it is ignored and left to fester. If we see someone who we know is trapped in sin out of love we must help them.

 

From a personal standpoint I remember I used to have a young soldier who worked for me who’s breath smelled bad and I ignored it for months. Finally my boss came to me and told me that he smelled it and told me to advise the soldier to see the dentist as it could indicate a serious dental problem. I did and the young soldier lost 4 teeth from infection that I failed to correct out of a lack of courage.

If you correct someone they may hate you but they will still have their teeth or soul as the case may be.