Philemon
1:2 …and to the church in your house
What
Philemon doesn’t know is that he is about to hear a personal letter written to
him in front of his family and his friends; he is going to hear Paul address
him on this issue he has with Onesimus. Paul wanted Timothy to read this letter
essentially to Philemon, but certainly can and will be used to instruct us all
on forgiveness, in front of others so that Philemon would be held accountable.
Accountability is a wonderful thing; it, when nothing else will do, can make us
willing to do the right thing. It will at least force us to acknowledge that we
are choosing to disobey. Philemon may not have wanted to forgive Onesimus of
his behavior but he knew that if he didn’t everyone else would know it too. In some
degree accountability makes our obedience to God’s will easier, it makes us
more aware of our choices if others are watching us closely. Yet, it is hard to
give someone else that sort of power over us; to surrender the choice to
disobey. But do we really have a choice to disobey, if we really want to bring
glory to God? Well, we certainly have that choice that’s what free will is all
about, but should we take it I guess is more the question. Maybe, we should
seek accountability more often so like Philemon, we would have the world
watching our choice.
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