“...blessed are those who mourn… they will be comforted…” and ready and equipped to “comfort those in trouble…” Matthew 5:4; 2Corinthians 1:2
What do we mourn? Our sin and its consequences. When we humbly recognize our sin and confess it to God and others, we are acknowledging our need for God and others - that we cannot do this alone. In our mourning, in our having brought grief to those who love us, we seek forgiveness and restoration - healing. It is in the confessing and the forgiving that we find our comfort and are healed of our guilt and shame, our anxious thoughts, and our remorse for having hurt those we love.
The great privilege of being the extension of God’s loving mercy. (Luke 6:36; Mat 5:44-48; Rom 12:14-21). What is perhaps most astonishing, is it is at the acknowledging and the confessing of our own sin, that we actually become one who another can approach when they have sinned and are seeking comfort and healing - it is when we have a right and humble view of self, that we become one to whom another can come and confess and be healed.
What do we mourn? Other’s sin and its consequences. Having experienced our own brokenness and sin, the mercy we have received from God by His love softens our hearts toward others who suffer the same pain - this should shape our attitude toward sin and one another - and compel us to develop a life and environment, a safe space, that promotes confession, forgiveness, and restoration - the healing salve of forgiveness - for all we encounter.
How we view ourselves and our sin will go a long way in telling us how we will see and view another and their sin - and whether they will feel safe coming to us for help. It is a spirit of humility that will ensure one’s ability, to be honest with God, self, and others, and then will allow others to come to you for the comfort they need.
Luke 18:9-14
On the other hand, self-righteousness, and pride, before God and people, make a person who is self-deceived, believing they are something they are not and doing so at their own peril (Pr 16:18-19). If we do not see ourselves as having sinned, not mourning our sin, we will go neither to God nor another, because we do not see our need to - we have shown that we actually do not love God much (John 13), and in turn, we are not likely to have an attitude or countenance that would allow another to come to us - because we see little need for forgiveness, we have little capacity to love.
It is in one’s own sober view of self (Ro 12:3), recognizing one’s own sin, God’s mercy on them in the face of their sin, and the relief and release of their heart’s and mind’s conscience at the forgiveness of their sin, that allows them to love much the One who has forgiven them and those around them who suffer also their sin…
Luke 7:36-50 “...I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”
…they truly mourn and therefore are truly comforted and therefore desire compassionately to comfort others:
Matthew 5:4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.”
2Cor 1:3-4 “3Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.”
…and then be counted among those to whom someone would dare come to confess their sin and seek aid…
1Peter 4:8 “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.”
James 5:16 “...and confess your sins to one another and pray for one another…”
…or would be a welcome sight when they see one in need and making an approach…
Luke 6:42 “...take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”
…as one sees their own sin, being honest with oneself, humbly recognizing their own sin, they are not blind to their own sin but have allowed themselves to be examined by the light, to have their sin exposed, and confess their sin and receive the peace of forgiveness, they now, having seen their own, and having cleansed themselves from their own sin, can see rightly, and love much, as to humbly, carefully, and gently approach the other’s sin and render loving aid and walk with them through repentance.
41“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 42How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
Galatians 6:1-3, 7-10 1Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. 2Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. 3If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves. … 7Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. 9Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. 10Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.
…in hopes of being healed, and relieved of guilt, shame, and the anxieties that come with sin and its consequences…
James 5:16 “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.”
…and restored to right relationship with God and others, renewed and strengthened, restored and re-assured of our position in God in Christ. (2Peter 1:1-11; 3:14; Ro 2:4)
Psalm 51
Do I make a regular practice of exposing my heart to God’s word, to the Spirit in prayer, and to the fellowship of believers, that my heart might be examined? If not, what do I need to change to start doing so or to be more consistent?
Do I have 2 or 3 close believing friends with whom I can share and confess and expose my sins to so that I might not hide my sin or shrink in guilt and shame and be gently restored?
Do I have a few in my life who love me enough to come to me when they see me struggling with sin and gently confront and restore me?
Are there those in my life, with whom I walk, who if I see in sin and mourn for them, that I would go to them and gently confront and restore?
