You shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. – Exodus 22:21, Amplified Bible (AMP)

There is never a time when a Christian has a right to be spiritually arrogant. Unfortunately, many Christians are spiritually arrogant, and they’re much more prone to snub people trapped in the quagmire of sin rather than to reach out with a helping hand.

God finds such a “holier-than-thou” attitude utterly repulsive. Just as He admonished the Israelites to remember where they came from so that they might treat strangers with love and kindness, we ought to remember where we came from so that we will treat those in need the same way Christ treated us when we were in need. Whether the “need” is spiritual or physical, we should meet the need with humble service; we should not address it with pious pride.

Paul, one of the greatest saints in all of history, called himself the chief of sinners because he remembered what he was like before Christ found him. We should do the same. “But I, unlike Paul, have never persecuted and murdered Christians?” you say. I say, “Yes, you have.” Every sin you and I have ever committed sent Jesus to the cross to die in our places. Adam and Eve’s “little sin” of eating a piece of fruit they had been told not to eat (which was a sin of disobedience) was all it took for Christ to be sentenced to die, and every sin you and I have ever committed added to the horror that Christ had to suffer.

Remember from what depths you’ve been rescued. You’re a murderer, a thief, and a liar, and so am I. Now that we realize where we’ve come from, let’s go help rescue others, and let’s do so humbly, not arrogantly.

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