Today’s a new day!
You should never pray over people and then prey on those people.
Read that again.
If you are going to lay hands on someone and pray for their healing, you better not be the same person who takes advantage of their pain, exploits their vulnerability, manipulates their faith, or uses their struggles to get something from them.
If you are going to stand in a pulpit and preach about the love of Jesus, you better be willing to demonstrate that love when nobody is watching.
If you are going to tell people to trust God, you better be someone they can trust.
If you are going to speak life into someone, don’t turn around and use your words to destroy them.
And if you are going to call yourself a Christian leader, understand that leadership is not about power, control, popularity, or influence. It’s about humility, servanthood, accountability, and love.
People come to churches, ministries, and Christian leaders carrying some of the deepest wounds imaginable. They come looking for hope, healing, encouragement, and a safe place to encounter Jesus.
They should never have to worry about becoming someone’s next target.
Jesus didn’t exploit broken people. He loved them. He didn’t manipulate the vulnerable. He served them. He didn’t use people to build His platform. He gave His life for them.
Matthew 7:16 reminds us:
“You will know them by their fruits.”
Church, it’s time we start paying attention to the fruit, not just the religious language.
You cannot claim to represent Jesus while intentionally hurting the very people He calls us to love.
PRAY OVER PEOPLE. LOVE PEOPLE. PROTECT PEOPLE. SERVE PEOPLE.
But whatever you do, NEVER PREY ON PEOPLE.
And perhaps it’s time every one of us, especially those in positions of spiritual influence, asked ourselves one uncomfortable question:
Are people encountering more of Jesus because of the way we treat them, or are they recovering from the way we treated them?
Let’s stop giving Jesus a bad reputation through our behavior.
The world doesn’t need more religious performance. It needs more people who actually look, love, and live like Jesus. ~OC
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