As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” Then the Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting (Acts 9:3-5).
The way we treat other members of the body of Christ is the way we treat Jesus Himself. This is quite a statement. If I’m angry and resentful towards a fellow believer, then I’m angry and resentful towards Jesus! The way I treat my wife Susan is the way I’m treating Jesus!
If we want the Holy Spirit to work in our lives, we must treat other members of the body of Christ with the same respect we would give to Jesus Himself. It’s a tall order, but it’s a great benchmark to work towards.
In the book of Acts it seems that the Holy Spirit manifested freely as the believers worked together in unity (Acts 1:14; 2:1; 2:46; 4:32; 5:12). Over and over the words with one accord were used. With one accord gives you the idea that each person treats the other respectfully and graciously. I think you could think of that as treating each other as though Jesus Himself were with you when you’re together with others.
According to Jesus, when we see the stranger and give him shelter, when we go minister to the sick person, or the person in prison, we are ministering to Jesus Himself.
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’ “Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ “And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me! (Matthew 25: 34-40).
We create an environment that either attracts or detracts from the presence of God by what we do with our attitudes, words, and actions towards fellow believers.
Be careful today with how you treat others. It will directly affect your relationship with the Lord! If we say we love Jesus, and pay no attention to others needs, how can we really say we love Him?
Our age is quickly becoming numb and loveless. This is our time to shine! Treat others the way you want to be treated. Pray for those you come in contact with daily. Ask the Lord to make you a blessing to them. Ask Him what you can do to show care and compassion to them.
If I don’t care for the person I can see, there’s no way I can really love the God I can’t see (1 John 4:20).
Let’s be sensitive to others today. What we do to them, the attitudes we portray, and what we say to them or about them to others is how we’re treating the Lord Jesus!