Peace of Jesus Christ be with you all. This month, God gave me the privilege to meet many people and I am very thankful for that. Keep praying for those who are going through tougher situations than us. We have to be thankful for all the good things and protection we have received from God so far. I believe that this newsletter will find you in good spirits. Thank you all for the encouragement and support you have given to me so far. It is a blessing. I request you to keep praying for me. God has been so good to me to make me forget my loneliness and to focus on the ministry. I am grateful for every good lesson that I have learnt and the truth that I have found at the feet of Jesus Christ. 

So far, we have covered the following topics under Relationship: 1) Always saying “yes” to please someone in a relationship is evil. 2) Fearing someone in a relationship is not a relationship. 3) Importance of conversation in a relationship. 4) Testing the relationship and 5) New creation. In this newsletter, we are going to see a different side of testing, i.e., loving the character of a person and not their profession.

Loving the Character and not profession:

One of the greatest deceptions I see in broken relationships is misjudging a person based on the profession they do. Profession is an external or outward expression that is a job or a routine or a line of work. People learn to judge others based on their profession. This deception starts within us. We love what Jesus Christ did for the people and we expect the same in our lives. When we see the life of David whom God made as king over Israel from nothing, we love that work and we expect him to make us the king. We expect him to make great changes in our lives. We are not loving him, but we love his work. 

In a relationship, loving the character of a person and finding his/ her character is very important. Profession is the outer costume a person wears, but character in the real unmasked man. It cannot be changed by any human being or influence. Only the creator can change that. Profession is the mask we decide to wear for a particular occasion and situation. It is not the reality. It is like seeing a movie and believing that the same situation is happening around us. When a person creates a pleasing situation for us or communicates a message that we like and suits our desire, we forget to see their intentions. We are living in the time of advertisements. Many times, we give much importance to appearances and less importance and time to find out the true character of people. Recently, one of my daughters bought a super mini cooler. She saw an advertisement and believed it was true. In the advertisement, a person who was far from the cooler was shivering, but, in reality, even if the cooler was kept very close to us it was of no use. It is a very simple and very painful deception. In English, there is a saying, “Don’t judge a book by it’s cover.” Since the world and the devil give us the things which are pleasing to us, we are tempted to say that they are a blessing. That is the reason we believe that others are having a good life and we are the only people struggling in life. The lifestyle of the Pharisees is a good example for this; they preferred to be Godly by profession but not by character. They prayed to be seen by others and not out of love or respect for God. Similarly, we have an agenda for doing certain things for Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is not expecting our works, but our love. Why are we doing something? With whose strength are we doing it? And who’s methodology have we adopted? These are the three important questions which are going to determine the character. If you want to please God and be His bride, then you should apply these questions to every situation of your life. Instead of Loving God, we learn to perform the duties of a good Christian; consequently, we have started wearing the mask of a profession. Hence, Christianity has merely become a profession. 

In Luke 10:30-36, we come across three characters. The first one is a priest who serves the Lord, God. He is serving God as a profession because though he is serving God who is the definition of Love, he could not exhibit the fruits of Love. He is able to perform the duties of loving God as a profession but could not inherit the character of love. That is why many people are tempted by the pleasures of the world though they are in the church. If you love the characters of Love, i.e., Jesus Christ, then instead of trying to be holy you will love holiness. When you wear the mask of a profession, you actually love the outcome of the performance, which is, doing something for a benefit. If you live with someone as a husband, wife, child, relative or friend for the benefits or comfort or convenience then it is not a relationship but a profession. Many people do not realise that when they say, “I live in this relationship for the sake of a wedding ceremony that happened some time ago and for the sake of the children,” they have already broken the vow they made with God to love the spouse. The second Character is a Levite. Levites were not Aaronic priests, but they performed lesser duties of God’s services in the temple. They were also set apart from the rest of Israel for God’s own purpose. They did not have any inheritance in Israel since God was their inheritance. Still, they did not have the loving nature of God. They thought they were His people by their duties, the title, and the job description assigned to them. That is the reason they could not exhibit the nature of God, i.e., love. Hence, these two characters confirm to us that our duties or deeds will not help us to change our character nor is it a proof for the character. The third character that we see in this passage is a Samaritan. In the time of Jesus Christ, Samaritans were viewed as the mixed, inferior race who practiced an impure, half-pagan, half Jewish religion. They were treated as the outsiders in spirituality, but that Samaritan is able to exhibit the fruits of the Holy Spirit. One of the important reasons for this is that he did not wear the mask of a profession. He had love as his character. 

Deception:

Many times, we struggle to handle our deception. In Psalms 40:2, sin is mentioned as, “miry clay.” It means that you will not have the ability to understand the truth. That is the reason in Hebrews 3:13, it says, “but exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.” When sin enters a person, it creates a deception and even if one desires to do good, he/she cannot because the carnal mind will not allow it. This is why though many people know their sins are wrong, they still keep on doing it. When Adam and Eve lost the love for the truth, they gave room for sin to enter their life and they became naked. Sin will deceive you and will not allow you to know the truth. In relationships, the moment the life of Jesus Christ is traded for tradition and for the system of the world, it is an open gate for the sin to enter. Subsequently, you will not have the understanding to see the destruction of the deception. Many times, we give an excuse by saying, “the situation demanded and that is the reason why I committed this sin.” When the Bible says a certain thing as “this is the way”, that means all other ways which are proved and acceptable in the worldly system are only deception. When I mention sin, it is about the work we do for our selfish purposes but not for God. This kind of selfish motive will deceive us in any relationship. Once you shift your focus from doing things for God, doing them in the image of God, and with help of God to doing them for your benefits then for sure that relationship is going to destroy you.

In a relationship, when a person makes a mistake, just a confession or acceptance of the sin is not enough for the relationship to be restored. In our relationship with God, we believe our prayers and Bible reading will heal the relationship with God; this is deception. The only way for the relationship with God to be established is through repentance. Many times, we have the mindset that our good works and efforts will please Him, and His anger could be appeased. Your works done to compensate your deficits is not accepted as the peace offering. Judas betrayed Jesus Christ for 30 silver coins, but him returning the silver coins never restored the relationship back with God. Many times, we are deceived by the mask people wear to rebuild a relationship. In Judges 11 Chapter, Jephthah makes a sacrifice, but God was not delighted in that. However, when Abraham made same kind of sacrifice it was accepted by God. The reason is obedience. Irrespective of the works done, the intention is looked upon by God. When a person makes mistakes, if it is not threatening the relationship, then it can be forgiven. But mistakes which threaten the relationship need renewing of the covenant and reassurance should be established in the form of correction. Acts of sacrifices are not the proof for restoration of a relationship but acts of correction are. In 1 Corinthians 13th Chapter, we see the possibilities of a sacrifice without love. So dear ones in Christ, do see the actions and judge a person.

Conclusion:

The main reason for deception is our love for our desires and passion. The devil will give us what we desire but will destroy our essential needs which are the basics for survival. But Jesus Christ loves us, and He expresses His love through correcting us from our sinful nature, so that we can be saved from destruction. These are the same things we must look for in a relationship. Any relationship should help us be corrected and should rescue us from destruction. A relationship which is focused on fulfilling the desire and passions is a destructive and hurtful relationship. The way of truth for the protection from deception in a relationship is repentance and submission. When you repent, you become sensitive to the Holy Spirit and when you submit to Him, your whole thinking process you will be led by Him. We are created in the image of God, for the Glory of God, as the bride of Christ. This should be our Goal. As long as you keep this as your goal no relationship will deceive you. Knowledge and experience are not enough to judge a situation. Truth is needed. Jesus Christ is the one and only truth; there is no other truth. Therefore, when you repent and submit, you will be protected from deceptive relationships. If you do not know how to love and if you are used to believing the deceptive works to establish a relationship, repentance and submission will transform you and you will start enjoying the relationship with God and fellow Christians. 

May the Lord Jesus Christ help you to repent and submit. May God bless you according to Isaiah 42:3&4, A bruised reed He will not break, And smoking flax He will not quench; He will bring forth justice for truth.4 He will not fail nor be discouraged, Till He has established justice in the earth; And the coastlands shall wait for His law.” Let his Peace and Joy rest upon you.