Motivated By Scold & Shame | Malachi 2:3

Behold, I will rebuke your offspring, and spread dung on your faces, the dung of your offerings, and you shall be taken away with it. —  Malachi 2:3 So in context, what has happened is the spiritual leaders have allowed less than acceptable sacrifices on the altar of God. In trying to appease the people's poverty, priests have allowed people to bring some crappy sacrifices. The problem is this is outright disobedient, which brings dishonor to God's name. Thus the people are not being blessed. They are being cursed. And the spiritual leaders are at fault. Therefore God promises to do two things to these spiritual leaders. First, he promises to scold their children. And second, he promises to shame them publicly by wiping the refuse of their crappy sacrifices on their faces and walking them out of the land. I think what God promises here is interesting because God makes it personal. And he makes it personal because it is personal. Sacrifice was God's means of personal and spiritual care for his followers. And the spiritual leaders have cheapened and devalued this. Therefore God is saying I will devalue you as you have devalued me, my process, and my children. And I will see how you like it when I bring public shame upon you and your children as you have unto me and my children. Shame, in this instance, is something God uses as a last resort to motivate these leaders. It's his last move. It's not the first one. And he is trying to get them to see the eventual end of their choices before they become realized. He wants them to play the tape of shame forward in a very personal way as it relates to their name and future generations, hoping this will motivate them. This is because sometimes, a little guilt and shame work to motivate people. Now we should use it sparingly. But in the end, it is a much better option than going through the experience of living in shame. So with this being said, is there something you are presently doing that has the potential of bringing shame upon you or those you love? If so, can I persuade you to change course today? Change course before you go through the crappiest experience of your life. ASK THIS: Is there something you are doing that could bring shame to your name or those you love? DO THIS: Change course today. PRAY THIS: God, I am ashamed and turn back to you. PLAY THIS: In Christ Alone. Check out other all Vince Miller's videos and audios for small groups at: https://beresolute.org/ Get Vince's most widely read resources The Daily Devotional at: https://beresolute.org/mdd Check out more ALL IN products like the one Vince is wearing at: https://beresolute.org/product-category/all-in-hats/ ____________________________________________________________________________________ Connect with Vince socially: FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/millervince INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/vinceleemiller LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vincemiller TWITTER: https://twitter.com/vinceleemiller