Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore, let us go forth to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach. For we have no continuing city here, but we seek one to come.
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Have you ever seen a brother or sister in the Lord do certain little things, yet feel no pangs of guilt, while you know in your heart that if you did the same things, your conscience would condemn you? This is not an unusual occurrence, and we need to understand it.
The Bible is clear in its teaching that there are varying degrees of righteousness. Some of God's children are driven by love for God to pursue the righteousness of God beyond what God requires of them, while others are satisfied with a lower level of righteousness. Those who desire the "higher calling" have to struggle against more spirits in this world than children of God who are comfortable with a lower commitment to the Lord, but with the higher calling always comes the strength to walk in it.
Paul acknowledges the existence of differing levels of righteousness in his instruction to the Corinthian saints concerning marriage. Paul's personal preference was that all God's children would experience the same wonderful relationship with God that he had. However, he knew that in order for them to do that, they would have to live the celibate life Paul lived, and he acknowledged that the celibate life was not everyone's calling. "I would that all men were even as myself", he wrote, "but every man has his [own] proper gift of God, one after this manner, and another after that" (1Cor. 7:7).
This higher calling on Paul's life placed Paul in a situation that is similar to situations in which some of you find yourself. Paul's desire for God's very best, the desire that God Himself had put in Paul's heart, drove Paul beyond the ordinary plane of spiritual life most of us know. Had he been envious of married believers, had Paul not appreciated the value of his calling, Paul would have complained about them not caring for a higher level of righteousness, for he knew that he lived on a level of spiritual commitment that is purer than that. Paul had ample opportunity to grumble at his brothers' and sisters' weakness and unwillingness to pursue the highest callings of God. But there was something else Paul knew that prevented him from doing that. He knew that the great desire of his heart to dedicate every moment of his life to Christ was not from him; it was a gift from God.
When you see others doing things that you know Jesus would not allow you to do, what is happening is not that you desire God more than they do; you are not that good. What is really happening is that God desires you more than He desires them. No man is wise enough to choose God; God chooses us. Jesus told his own disciples, "You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you." His choosing them caused them much suffering, but should they have been envious at others who did not suffer, or angry with those whom God did not call to follow Jesus? Once, when John and his brother James grew angry with people in a Samaritan city who showed disrespect to Jesus, they wanted to kill them. Jesus sharply rebuked those brothers for their foolishness and pride. If someone does not love Jesus, they are cursed already. Why then should we want to hurt them more?
If pride has found a way to infiltrate your soul, one of the first things that will happen is that you will begin to take credit for the righteousness that you have been given from God. How does this manifest itself? By forgetting that your love for God came from God and is really God's love for you. It is God loving you that creates in your heart a love for Him. If you forget this, you will soon be looking down on those who do not have the same sense of holiness that you have been given.
Paul did not scoff at those among God's people who were married, even though he knew they would be more available to the righteousness of God if they were not married. He rejoiced for his calling; he did not belittle others' callings. He was not afraid to state clearly that his was the superior path; still, he acknowledged that other callings were good in God's sight. He wrote: "So then, he who gives her in marriage does well, but he who gives her not in marriage does better."
Paul did not grumble about others being allowed by God to marry, and retain a clear conscience, while he could not. He was too satisfied with Jesus to do that. He was happy to have the calling on his life that he had. If anything, he felt sorrowful for those whose calling included marriage. He felt that married people were missing out on something precious in Christ that he had. Paul felt no ill-will toward a brother if it was a man's calling from God to marry.
I have used the example of marriage, but this matter of levels of righteousness could be demonstrated by using hundreds of other examples. Some of you are in a position now of seeing fellow believers at times do things that you could not do without having condemnation in your heart. If you are wise, you will be thankful that you have a higher level of discernment concerning what pleases God and what does not. With your calling, you will come to know Jesus in a way and to a depth that others may not ever know. There is no reason whatsoever that you should envy them! Yours is the superior calling.
Those who despise others who live at some lower level of righteousness have become proud and don't know it, and those who envy fellow believers who have the "liberty" from God to live on a lower level are foolish. How can we despise or envy those who are less in love with Jesus? How can we envy others if we really understand that the only difference between us and them is God's calling? It is God's choice that you should know Him better! Don't envy those who do not know God's will as well as you do. Yours may be the more difficult lot on this earth, but it will be the better lot in the world to come. And that world, unlike this one, is eternal.
"Happy is the man", Paul said, "who does not condemn himself in that thing that he allows [himself to do]" (Rom. 14:22). If you are living within the calling God has given you, then you are a happy person. Everything you are doing, God blesses you for. Nothing you do brings condemnation to your heart. Then, avoid the temptation to look around at other believers and compare yourself with them. Paul said that it is unwise to do that. Instead, listen to the Spirit of God as He speaks softly to your heart, no matter what He is saying or not saying to anybody else.