- I want to put you up on game so if you ever come into contact with one of these snitches you recognize who they are, what they are, and you will know how to handle them.
- If you find that you fit the description of a "Sanctified Snitch" I'm calling you out. Get you mind right and do better, please and thank you.
* * *
If you know me then you know that I have a reputation for "fronting" well. I might be going through the roughest, toughest storm in my life within, however, my surface may convey a convincing facade of blue skies. Some might argue that that makes me fake but in actuality I feel that it makes me wise. Let me address that assumption before I go any further though... This is 'bout to be some real wisdom. Pay attention and take notes...
- Everyone does not need to know your business.
Don't take my word for it. Proverbs 4:23 (NIV) says, "Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it." One synonym for heart is feelings so the scripture above is suggesting that we guard our feelings, because our feelings tend to influence how we live. Don't be no fool. Everyone's intentions towards you are not good. Some people are waiting for the opportunity to see you "going through" so they can attack you or take advantage of you. Don't be a victim; use wisdom.
On the other hand, there may be people whose intentions are good but they really may not have the ability or the capacity to help you. I feel like nothing is worse than when I'm down and I open to someone about how I'm feeling and they have nothing relevant to offer back. You might tell them your dog died, you failed your class at school, and your boyfriend broke up with you and they say, "I'm sorry. That sucks." That's like offering a band-aid on a wound that needs surgery and stitches. Don't open yourself up only to be disappointed; use wisdom.
The definition of fake is hiding something in order to deceive. Therefore I feel that if your intentions for fronting are to guard your heart, and not to be deceptive, then you are not being fake you are being wise. A fake person will act like they have everything together just to keep up appearances. A wise person might have the appearance that they have everything together out in the open but behind the scenes they will be seeking Godly wisdom and guidance from a trustworthy source.
* * *
So let's say that you are using wisdom and guarding your heart. There may still be people out there who are looking for a reason to hate. It's funny to me how when the preacher mentions haters in church everyone gets excited. I guess that's because most of us think we have haters, and many of us probably do. Despite the haters we may have (or think we have) I know of one man who dealt with worse... Jesus.
Some of Jesus's biggest haters were the Pharisees. The Pharisees (learn about them in Mark 3:6) were a Jewish religious group whose members were really serious about following the Old Testament laws and their own religious traditions. They hated Jesus and wanted to kill him which is not surprising because Jesus challenged their motives behind why they did what they did. What Jesus knew about the Pharisees was that they were only concerned about making sure that the Law was carried out. They were so caught up in the religious customs and traditions that they missed the one thing that God was really concerned about- their hearts.
But we'll get back to all that.. First I want to show you a specific encounter between Jesus and the Sanctified Snitches He had to deal with, the Pharisees. From this text we will see how Jesus handled His haters and see a perfect example of how we may be able to handle our own.
Turn with me in your Bibles to Matthew 12:1-8... Lol, I just like saying that. I'll put the text below for you to reference.
So in the text you have Jesus and His disciples chilling on the Sabbath walking through the grain fields. The disciples got hungry and they started picking some of the heads of grain to eat. All of a sudden the Pharisees, A.K.A. the "Sanctified Snitches" saw them and started hating (verse 2). Now I love this part because right here Jesus teacher us how to handle our haters. This is literally "Gettin' Yo' Haters in Check 101" so get your pens ready...
People often quote the phrase, "What Would Jesus Do?" but here we get an account of what He actually did when approached by haters. His responds to the Pharisees in verse 3 and basically says, "Um, have you been in your Word?" Then, He gave them 3 different examples to prove his innocence. So what do we learn from this? We learn that when haters come against you, "Speak the Word!" However, in order to do that you have to be in the Word yourself. Jesus gave the Pharisees, not one, but 3 examples but He can do that because He's Jesus. We can do it too, we would just have to be all up in those Scriptures to be able to do so. We gon' have to do like it says in 2 Timothy 2:15, "study to show yourself approved... rightly dividing the word of truth." I'll admit it, this is something that I'm actively working on myself... When somebody run up on me I be speaking some words all right, Lol. I have to learn to speak The Word. Lord help me!!!
The next thing that Jesus did that really stuck out to me in the scripture is in verse 7 where He said, "If you had known what these words mean, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the innocent." So here Jesus was referencing Hosea 6:6, "let's turn there in our Bibles." Lol. I'm going to put several different versions of this particular verse because I feel like this is an important lesson that Jesus wants us to understand.
Many times we ask ourselves the question, "What does God want from me?" He answers that question right here, HE WANTS YOUR HEART!!!! This scripture shows us that He wants us to show love and know Him above everything else. That's more important to Him than going to church seven days a week, than giving everything you own to the poor, than being the president of every auxiliary at church... And going back to what I was saying earlier, this is where the Pharisees missed it. They had made 39 categories of things that were not allowed on the Sabbath that they came up with based on their interpretation of God's law and on Jewish custom and harvesting was one of those things that was not allowed on the Sabbath. So because the disciples picked the wheat and rubbed it in their hands technically they were harvesting, however, they were not doing so to sell the grain and make a profit, they did it simply because they were hungry. Jesus felt like they were so caught up in the law that they missed Him. God cares about our intentions, our desire to know Him, and our willingness to bring others to Christ more than He cares about the little things that we do that might go against religious customs and traditions.
I feel like there are far too many people in the church who behave just like these Pharisees. They look down on a woman if she comes into the church wearing a dress that is a little short, rather than focusing on the fact that the woman even came to the church in the first place and that this may be the only dress she owns. They look down on a man who might come into the church tatted up, smelling of alcohol and weed, and shun him rather than welcoming him, embracing him, and showing him the love of Christ. Then there are the people in the church who serve daily but they do it with the wrong spirit and the wrong attitude. They are looking to be seen rather than really focusing on uplifting the body of Christ.
Today, as Christians we have to turn our attention away from the trivial things and re-focus on what is important. God wants our heart so we have to make sure that our hearts are right. Don't take my word for it, God straight up tells Samuel this in 1 Samuel 16:7,
"...for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart."
We need to start seeing things as God sees them and not get so caught up on what we see on the outside that we miss opportunities to minister and bring people to God. We have to love others and show compassion to them because "all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." It's not so much important that we do the right things, but that we do the right things for the right reasons because God is looking at our hearts.
If you have found yourself in the position of being a Sanctified Snitch, seek forgiveness, repent, and from now on focus on "the heart of the matter." If you have found yourself in the position of being hurt by a Sanctified Snitch, forgive and speak the Word, knowing that the Word says in Romans 12:19, "... for it is written, vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord." Remember yall, He wants your heart!!!!
<3 yall! God bless!
Some of Jesus's biggest haters were the Pharisees. The Pharisees (learn about them in Mark 3:6) were a Jewish religious group whose members were really serious about following the Old Testament laws and their own religious traditions. They hated Jesus and wanted to kill him which is not surprising because Jesus challenged their motives behind why they did what they did. What Jesus knew about the Pharisees was that they were only concerned about making sure that the Law was carried out. They were so caught up in the religious customs and traditions that they missed the one thing that God was really concerned about- their hearts.
But we'll get back to all that.. First I want to show you a specific encounter between Jesus and the Sanctified Snitches He had to deal with, the Pharisees. From this text we will see how Jesus handled His haters and see a perfect example of how we may be able to handle our own.
Turn with me in your Bibles to Matthew 12:1-8... Lol, I just like saying that. I'll put the text below for you to reference.
Matthew 12
1At that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples were an hungred, and began to pluck the ears of corn and to eat.
2But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day.
3But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungred, and they that were with him;
4How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests?
5Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless?
6But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple.
7But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless.
8For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.
| King James Version (KJV) |
So in the text you have Jesus and His disciples chilling on the Sabbath walking through the grain fields. The disciples got hungry and they started picking some of the heads of grain to eat. All of a sudden the Pharisees, A.K.A. the "Sanctified Snitches" saw them and started hating (verse 2). Now I love this part because right here Jesus teacher us how to handle our haters. This is literally "Gettin' Yo' Haters in Check 101" so get your pens ready...
People often quote the phrase, "What Would Jesus Do?" but here we get an account of what He actually did when approached by haters. His responds to the Pharisees in verse 3 and basically says, "Um, have you been in your Word?" Then, He gave them 3 different examples to prove his innocence. So what do we learn from this? We learn that when haters come against you, "Speak the Word!" However, in order to do that you have to be in the Word yourself. Jesus gave the Pharisees, not one, but 3 examples but He can do that because He's Jesus. We can do it too, we would just have to be all up in those Scriptures to be able to do so. We gon' have to do like it says in 2 Timothy 2:15, "study to show yourself approved... rightly dividing the word of truth." I'll admit it, this is something that I'm actively working on myself... When somebody run up on me I be speaking some words all right, Lol. I have to learn to speak The Word. Lord help me!!!
The next thing that Jesus did that really stuck out to me in the scripture is in verse 7 where He said, "If you had known what these words mean, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the innocent." So here Jesus was referencing Hosea 6:6, "let's turn there in our Bibles." Lol. I'm going to put several different versions of this particular verse because I feel like this is an important lesson that Jesus wants us to understand.
Hosea 6:6:
6For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.
| King James Version (KJV) Hosea 6:6:6 I want you to show love,[a] not offer sacrifices. I want you to know me[b] more than I want burnt offerings. Footnotes:
|
Many times we ask ourselves the question, "What does God want from me?" He answers that question right here, HE WANTS YOUR HEART!!!! This scripture shows us that He wants us to show love and know Him above everything else. That's more important to Him than going to church seven days a week, than giving everything you own to the poor, than being the president of every auxiliary at church... And going back to what I was saying earlier, this is where the Pharisees missed it. They had made 39 categories of things that were not allowed on the Sabbath that they came up with based on their interpretation of God's law and on Jewish custom and harvesting was one of those things that was not allowed on the Sabbath. So because the disciples picked the wheat and rubbed it in their hands technically they were harvesting, however, they were not doing so to sell the grain and make a profit, they did it simply because they were hungry. Jesus felt like they were so caught up in the law that they missed Him. God cares about our intentions, our desire to know Him, and our willingness to bring others to Christ more than He cares about the little things that we do that might go against religious customs and traditions.
I feel like there are far too many people in the church who behave just like these Pharisees. They look down on a woman if she comes into the church wearing a dress that is a little short, rather than focusing on the fact that the woman even came to the church in the first place and that this may be the only dress she owns. They look down on a man who might come into the church tatted up, smelling of alcohol and weed, and shun him rather than welcoming him, embracing him, and showing him the love of Christ. Then there are the people in the church who serve daily but they do it with the wrong spirit and the wrong attitude. They are looking to be seen rather than really focusing on uplifting the body of Christ.
Today, as Christians we have to turn our attention away from the trivial things and re-focus on what is important. God wants our heart so we have to make sure that our hearts are right. Don't take my word for it, God straight up tells Samuel this in 1 Samuel 16:7,
"...for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart."
We need to start seeing things as God sees them and not get so caught up on what we see on the outside that we miss opportunities to minister and bring people to God. We have to love others and show compassion to them because "all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." It's not so much important that we do the right things, but that we do the right things for the right reasons because God is looking at our hearts.
If you have found yourself in the position of being a Sanctified Snitch, seek forgiveness, repent, and from now on focus on "the heart of the matter." If you have found yourself in the position of being hurt by a Sanctified Snitch, forgive and speak the Word, knowing that the Word says in Romans 12:19, "... for it is written, vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord." Remember yall, He wants your heart!!!!
<3 yall! God bless!
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