They abhor me, they keep far from me; they do not hesitate to spit in my face. Job 30:10

People are very shallow with their friendship with other people. When things are going well and the friend is doing everything right, they are willing to be friends. However, as soon as the friend makes a major mistake or has a sudden downfall of life, people are very quick to leave him. They are quick to kick him while he is down.

This happens even more to public figures. A leader makes a major mistake in his life, or there has been a major past mistake discovered, or his money is suddenly all gone, then all of his supporters or ‘friends’ are no longer there. They are cold against him.

Job had people who had respected him. He had helped them many times in the past, supporting and building them up. Even though Job had done nothing wrong, it appeared as if he did everything wrong. People turned against him. They now despised him. They were quick to kick him while he was down and spit in his face, as though he were the worst criminal on the earth.

While this type of action can be expected in the world, it also happens a lot in the church. A leader suddenly falls into some type of sin or has a down turn of events in his life, and other believers begin to shun him. They no longer want anything to do with him. While he is down in the struggle for his life, people turn the other way.

Often, they not only turn, but they blame him for sins committed. There is no love or work to restore him being shown. He is kicked and cursed while he is down.

Jesus did not go around kicking people who were down, but worked to restore them and build them up.

There will be people who you personally know or know about who have a downturn of events in their life. Things will begin to go bad for them. Instead of finding fault and judging them, work to restore them.

Seek to find ways to build them up and encourage them, rather than kicking them while they are down. Do not shun them, because you are the light of the world, be the light to them. You do not always know if it is because of sin or it is a trial that they are going through a tough time. Always point them towards God.

I pray today that you will be a witness of God’s great love; that you will speak words that point people to God; that you will always seek to restore people to God; and that you will never kick a person who is down.

Tom Arn has ministered in many facets of the church, from children’s pastor, senior pastor, and currently as a Sunday School Teacher. He has General Ministries Degree. He began with short devotional Bible studies on his blog, Insights From Tom in 2014. He travels through each book of the Bible, chapter-by-chapter and section-by-section, writing what God places on his heart at the time.

Tom is happily married for 31 years to his wonderful wife Cammie. Together they share with everyone how God has blessed them with eight children and one precious grandchild. He desires that God may richly bless you, and make you more like Jesus everyday, drawing you closer to Him

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