References:
- Review A Jesus Parable and Romans 12:1-2
- Don’t be “conformed”
- But be “transformed”
- Review Matthew 25:31-46
- Separating - aphorisms - from Merriam-Webster Online
- a concise statement of a principle
- a terse formulation of a truth or sentiment
- "Let us value the quality of life, not the quantity."
- Compare with a proverb (check out last week’s episode).
- Sheep vs Goats
- Being a goat is to practice transactional kindness
- Being a sheep is to practice joyful generosity
- “Lord, when did we see you… and help you?”
- Sheep mindset considers loving service of others as a natural, joyful default.
- “How can I help” flows from a foundational awareness of grace, loving as one has been loved.
- Sees people through the eyes of compassion, seeing the image of God in the vulnerable.
- Biblical support or clarification:
- Proverbs 14:31; 19:17 (NLT) - God’s wisdom reveals that how we treat the poor is how we directly treat God.
- My experience on the mission field has been that the poor often don’t see themselves as worthy of visiting, help, compassion, dignity.
- 2 Corinthians 8:1-5 (NLT) - Sacrificial generosity grows from first giving one’s self to God, then the joyful response to God’s overwhelming gracious love.
- I have stories of desperately poor people showing me a sheep’s heart in their joyful generosity.
- Judgement:
- “‘when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’”
- Into eternal life!
- I just wanna’ be a sheep. Baa baa ba baa.
- By the renewal of my mind.
- By the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit.
