COMFORTING NOT CONDEMN

 COMFORTING NOT CONDEMNING

February 1 , 2024

By Rev. Michael Benson Ajayi

" The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;  To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord , and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;" Isaiah 61:1‭-‬2 KJV 

  'And Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days.  And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he said, For I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning. Thus his father wept for him."Genesis 37:34‭-‬35 KJV 

   Our best plans does not guarantee our exemption from suffering permanent of temporary losses . We all have suffered a painful  loss at one time  or the other and at such moments we need some comfort from an understanding friend. 

    In Gen 37 Jacob struggled to be comforted after receiving news about the loss of his precious  son Joseph . Sometimes you need the help of others . The Bible says we should comfort persons who are repentant of their errors " so that, on the contrary, you ought rather to forgive and comfort him , lest perhaps such a one be swallowed up with too much sorrow." II Corinthians 2:7 NKJVbible 

  God wants us to be comforted “Comfort, yes, comfort My people!” Says your God." Isaiah 40:1 NKJVBible 

The anointing of the Holy Ghost dwells in the believer to comfort the hurting. The Bible says  " To console those who mourn in Zion, To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the Lord , that He may be glorified.” Isaiah 61:3 NKJVbible

  We are advised to comfort each other . "Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing.';" IThessalonians 5:11 NKJVBible and " . God comforts us through other's , the Bible speaks of Titus in this regard  : "Therefore we have been comforted in your comfort. And we rejoiced exceedingly more for the joy of Titus, because his spirit has been refreshed by you all." II Corinthians 7:13 NKJVBible 

    At such times we share our testimonies and  this comforts us in our tribulation, " that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God."

II Corinthians 1:4 NKJVBible. 

While comforting the weak we should be cautious to avoid condemning them . Job's friends were condemning instead of comforting him in his travails “I have heard many such things; Miserable comforters are you all! Shall words of wind have an end? Or what provokes you that you answer? I also could speak as you do, If your soul were in my soul’s place. I could heap up words against you, And shake my head at you; But I would strengthen you with my mouth, And the comfort of my lips would relieve your  grief." Job 16:2‭-‬5 NKJV

Singing gospel inspired songs while making prophetic utterances can be a major source of comfort to the distraught soul (Psalm32:7: 1Cor.14:3) and sometimes all that is required is our presence .The scriptures says " So they sat down with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his grief was very great." Job 2:13 NKJVBible

Prayer : Heavenly father forgive me of my sins against you I believe Jesus Christ died and was raised again for my salvation I receive him as Lord and saviour and receive the Holy Ghost and power to be a source of comfort to the weak in Jesus name. 

+2348035536911, +2348098536911 e-mail: Michaelbensonajayi@gmail.com