Are you a ruler—a person in authority or control?  Are you a parent…a teacher…an employer?  Are you a babysitter…a caregiver…an overseer?

THE GOD OF ISRAEL SAID, THE ROCK OF ISRAEL SPOKE TO ME: ‘HE WHO RULES OVER MEN MUST BE JUST, RULING IN THE FEAR OF GOD’
(2 Samuel 23:3).

Whenever you rule over someone, God wants you to be just…fair…honorable.  When my children were small, I always explained to them why I required a certain behavior of them.  I always tried to be just to my children and treat them with respect and fairness.  Today, they have become honorable adults, who treat other people with respect and fairness.

NO TEMPTATION HAS SEIZED YOU EXCEPT WHAT IS COMMON TO MAN. AND GOD IS FAITHFUL; HE WILL NOT LET YOU BE TEMPTED BEYOND WHAT YOU CAN BEAR. BUT WHEN YOU ARE TEMPTED, HE WILL ALSO PROVIDE A WAY OUT SO THAT YOU CAN STAND UP UNDER IT
(1 Corinthians 10:13).

Did you grow up with unfairness and disrespect, marked by injustice, partiality, or deceit? How did you react to this injustice? How did your heart deal with the partiality? How did you handle the disrespect?

Be reminded that the anger and pain in your heart are not a result of what happened to you, but a result of what you came to believe about yourself under the unfair ruler: “I am a disgrace…I am abandoned…I am condemned.” Know that no temptation has seized you, except what is common to man. But God is faithful.

IT IS A JOY FOR THE JUST TO DO JUSTICE, BUT DESTRUCTION WILL COME TO THE WORKERS OF INIQUITY
(Proverbs 21:15).

If you are a ruler…an overseer…a leader, I bless you to be just, ruling over men in the fear of God, not out of self-centeredness.  Do not be proud.  Do not instigate rebellion.  Do not generate animosity.

Have you rebelled against man and against God, because of the unfairness and disrespect with which you grew up?

Although you were tempted through unfairness and disrespect, God wants to show you His way out of the abandonment, shame, and condemnation that still live in your heart. What will it take for you to lay down your rebellion and allow God to show you HIS WAY OUT?

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, help me to understand that the pain of shame, abandonment, and condemnation in my heart is not a result of the unfair treatment of the past, but a result of what I came to believe about myself. But today, I come to You. Show me Your Way out of this pain.