"Comfort Food" or Godly Comfort?

Please see the note at the bottom concerning yesterday's devotion. Thanks! 

What are your “comfort foods”?

Mine are homemade bread, cinnamon rolls, and homemade soup.

God designed foods for our enjoyment, but food isn’t actually meant to comfort us. When we feel discouraged or frustrated, we often look for comfort in all the wrong places. Our first thoughts should be of “the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God” (2 Corinthians 1:3-5). 

Sometimes we reject His comfort:

When Joseph disappeared, his father Jacob “refused to be comforted” (Genesis 37:35). Jacob forgot that God can comfort us in any situation, even when things seem hopeless. Jacob's refusal to accept comfort didn’t bring Joseph back any sooner. It just made Jacob miserable for a good chunk of his life.

Are you in need of comfort in some area of your life today? A second helping of pie won't do the trick! Instead, ask for God's comfort, and be ready to receive it. He’s able to comfort us in any and every situation! 

For more encouragement about God's comfort, see He's Scared for You and Our Cheerleaders.

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Note: I had a reader ask me if I had personally contacted the owner of the blog whose posts I critiqued in Wednesday's Devotion.

Some of you may have noticed that I wrote this at the bottom of the devotion: "I also tried to leave my concerns in comments graciously stated, but for some reason, they didn't go through."

I tried sending a comment twice on two different posts on the blog. Neither was published nor answered. This could have been for a variety of reasons. But I'm not surprised he didn't answer them, as his ministry is quite large. Typically, only smaller blogs like mine will answer comments or correspondence. 

If you're wondering if it's a biblical principle to privately contact someone before writing about them, that's a good question.

We're told in Matthew 15 that this is required for church discipline with other members of our church. And while it's not commanded in other situations that aren't part of church discipline, it's a good idea when we know a person or they're easy to contact. For example, I have blogger friends who I would contact before sharing something about their blogs.

But when someone publicly shares a teaching in a book, on the internet, or on TV, they understand that they are open to public critique.

And that's important because it's hard to get direct contact with leaders of large ministries, and most of the people who personally know a teacher agree with his teaching, so correction is more likely to come from outside his followers.

We also have an example in Scripture where Paul publicly rebuked Peter for behaving in an ungodly way in public, and Paul didn't meet with Peter before doing it (Galatians 2:11-14).

In addition, if you read the notes in my Bite Size Study, I affirmed several things this teacher is doing and made it clear I was using him as an example of a genuine believer who was giving in to the pressure of culture, not a false teacher or fake Christian. 

 

Also: There has been another source of confusion about this devotion. I did not  find an“Adulterers Sensitivity Statement.” I  found an “LGBTQ+ Sensitivity Statement”and created an example for comparison. Just as we would not approve my example, we should not approve the real statement.  

BLN