5月12日
标 题：忠诚的伤痕
经 节：朋友加的伤痕出于忠诚；仇敌连连亲嘴却是多余。（箴言廿七章6节）
耶稣从不为那些认罪的人减轻罪疚感。当撒该为自己的罪痛心疾首，要慷慨地赔偿他以前对人的亏欠时，耶稣并没有说：“撒该，现在最重要的是你为自己的罪痛心疾首。”在撒该面对自己的罪时，耶稣并没有安慰他（路加福音十九：1～10）。耶稣也没有为人的不信找借口。我们从未听耶稣说：“嗯，没关系，我知道我对你要求的信心很多，这是不容易的。”相反地，当门徒不相信祂，祂立即斥责他们。耶稣深爱祂的朋友们，以至于不能苟同、接纳他们的罪。
我们有可能过分温和地对待朋友。当朋友被圣灵指责、迫切悔过时，你是否想要安慰他？倘若圣灵正使某人良心不安，不要试图减轻某人对罪的不自在！小心不要让你的朋友认为缺乏信心是可被接纳的。倘若你宽容不顺服，或以其他角度来看问题，那么你并没有付出真实的友谊。亲吻总比伤痕令人愉悦，然而，如果你安慰朋友，让他自在地与罪和平共处，亲吻的破坏性会更大。
当我们尝试抚慰朋友，却不对他们分享神的话语，事实上，我们对朋友已造成很大的伤害。如果看到朋友在危难中，却不提出警告，神会向我们讨闭口不言的罪（以西结书卅三：6）。你是否是个忠诚的朋友，甘冒忠言逆耳之险，好阻止他们继续犯罪？
Faithful Wounds
Faithful are the wounds of a friend, But the kisses
of an enemy are deceitful. (Proverbs 27:6)
Jesus never gave relief to people who were under
conviction. When Zaccheus, in remorse for his sin, shared his generous plans
for restitution, Jesus did not say, “Now Zaccheus, the important thing is that
you feel sorry for what you did.” Jesus brought no comfort to him as he dealt
with his sin (Luke 19:1–10). Neither did Jesus excuse disbelief. We never find
Jesus saying, “Well, that’s all right. I know I’m asking you to believe a lot,
and that’s not easy.” On the contrary, Jesus was quick to chastise His
disciples when they failed to believe Him. Jesus loved His friends too much to
condone or comfort them in their sin.
It is possible to be too gentle with your friends.
When a friend is under deep conviction by the Holy Spirit, do you try to give
comfort? Don’t ever try to ease the discomfort of someone whom the Holy Spirit
is making uncomfortable! Be careful not to communicate to your friends that you
find their lack of faith acceptable. You are not acting in true friendship if
you condone disobedience or even if you look the other way. Kisses are far more
pleasant than wounds, yet they can be even more devastating if they lull your
friend into being comfortable with sin.
In our attempt to appease our friends and our
reluctance to share a word from God, we can actually cause great harm. If we
see our friends in danger and do not warn them, God will hold us accountable
for our silence (Ezek. 33:6). Are you a friend of such integrity that you would
risk wounding your friends in order to deter them from their sin?
