By now everybody has heard Marquis Jones’ story.  He’s the guy who’s deliverance from homosexuality went viral recently.  I have no problem with his deliverance.  Actually, I’m very happy for him and I rejoice with him. However, there were many others who made a mockery of his transformation and ridiculed him for it, which is why he is now suing Twitter for allowing its users to bully him online.  Now, I can’t help but to believe that all of this public humiliation could have been avoided if he had been aware of the spiritual principle shared in Romans 14:22.

“Hast thou faith? have it to thyself before God. Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth” Romans 14:22 KJV.

The Good News Translation puts it this way, “Keep what you believe about this matter, then, between yourself and God. Happy are those who do not feel guilty when they do something they judge is right!”

Paul was teaching the Roman church about the importance of refraining from activities that will cause other believers to stumble in their walk with God.  More specifically he was talking about eating meat versus not eating meat.  Some believers thought that eating meat was a sin, and some thought that it was perfectly fine to eat.  Paul taught that neither of those things mattered.  What was important was that the work of God be not hindered because of a difference of opinion.

Was he wrong for believing that God had delivered him, even though others may not have?  Of course not.  Was it wrong for him to decree and declare the changes he wanted to see in his life as a result of his deliverance, even though others may not have understood?  Absolutely not.  I do think his declaration would have been better suited for the privacy of his own home, in the privacy of the pastor’s office, or at the very least stated without the amplification of the microphone because quite frankly the vast majority of onlookers were focused on his past shame (and his grammar) and not his present victory or his future success.  In other words, they were focused on what he was delivered from with no regard for the fact that he was now free from it.

So what’s the lesson in all of this for you and me?  Not everybody can handle your testimony.  God does miraculous things for His children that should be shared, but some things are better left between you and God, at least until we are at a point of totally walking in the deliverance we’ve received.  This is for our benefit because the last thing we need is for someone else who doesn’t believe to impose their non-belief on us.

I’m not judgin’.  I’m just saying’.

What about you?  Have you ever shared your beliefs or a resolve change something in your life with others and then been criticized for it?