God does not condemn those who belong to Him:
"There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.” Romans 8:1
Sin separates us from God, not because God leaves, but because we feel He leaves. God the Holy Spirit is everywhere and especially within those who believe in Jesus:
Sometimes, like Adam and Eve, the sinner does not want to see God after he has sinned:
“And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.” Genesis 3:8
Other times the sinner desperately wants to feel the presence of God as David did:
“Do not cast me away from Your presence, And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.” Psalm 51:11
The greatest suffering Jesus felt on the cross was to be separated from the presence of God the Father, whom He had never been separated from before and never will be again:
“My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” Psalm 22:1 Matthew 27:46 Mark 15:34
The sins of the whole world were laid on Him at that time.
We certainly deserve God’s anger when we sin. We have disobeyed His commands, We sin against God when we sin against our fellow man because each person was created in His image and is precious in His sight:
“Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness…” Genesis 1:26
We can plan, think, feel and choose like Him:
“What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him? For You have made him a little lower than the angels, And You have crowned him with glory and honor.” Psalm 8:4-5 (see Psalm 144:3 Hebrews 2:5)
The greatest pain is felt by Him:
“Against You, You only, have I sinned, And done this evil in Your sight…” Psalm 51:4
Yet in all our sin He does not condemn us because He loves us so much.
Many times God has been kind to me when it was what I least deserved. One reason is because kindness is part of His nature:
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control…” Galatians 5:22-23
Another reason for His kindness is to lead me to repentance:
“Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance.” Romans 2:4
When I realize how much He loves me, I don’t want to hurt Him; I want to repent.
If that is the way God treats me, shouldn’t I be kind to others when they wrong me? Is this part of the meaning of:
“Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse… If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” (Deuteronomy 32:35) says the Lord. On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” (Proverbs 25:21-22) Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” Romans 12:14-21
God wants us to be kind to our enemies so they will repent and eventually turn to Him. If they are already His children they might repent and our reconciliation will please God:
“How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity! It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron’s beard, down on the collar of his robe. It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion. For there the LORD bestows his blessing, even life forevermore.” Psalm 133:1-3
The New Testament repeats how important unity is to God:
“then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.” Philippians 2:2
Kindness = reconciliation = unity = people knowing Christians by their love and possibly coming to the Lord because of their example:
“By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:35
People are more apt to change if we are kind. We should be kind whether or not the party who wronged us changes or not. At least, it is not us who has put a stumbling block in their way.
God’s kindness changes us – shouldn’t it change other Christians?
“I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:3-6
If someone knows the Lord, He is working in that person just as He does in us. We can help by praying for them. If we are praying within God’s will, it will be done:
“This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.” 1 John 5:14-15
The Holy Spirit convicts us of sins:
“When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin, because people do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.” John 16:8-11
Conviction means it is possible to repent and be reconciled to God. Conviction is from God. Condemnation is from Satan. Condemnation attacks the person, making him feel hopeless.
God wants to convict us when we sin, hoping to turn us to Him and away from the consequences of sin. Our son Scott had a friend who had accepted the Lord and sometimes went to youth meetings with Scott. This friend started to choose to be with his worldly friends during Friday night meetings even though he was often at our house. One night Scott waited till the last minute to go to the meeting hoping his friend would go with him. I was praying, as I had often, that he would go with Scott. When he left to go with his worldly friends, just after Scott had left, I felt “Why wasn’t God convicting him?” Suddenly I felt the presence of the Holy Spirit. It was like God saying, “I am convicting him, in answer to Scott and your prayers, but he is not listening”. His life was not the success, God wanted it to be.
We also know that it is God’s will to save those who don’t know Him:
“The Lord… (is) not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9
Perhaps a person will reject God’s love and our love. But at least we can feel satisfied that we have done our part and have not stood in God’s way.
Because God is kind to us even when we sin, we should be kind to others, even when they sin against us. We should forgive them and, if possible, perhaps do something special for them. We can always pray for them.