Do not defend yourself!
Matt. 5:25 Agree with your adversary quickly, while you are in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver you to the judge, and the judge deliver you to the officer, and you be cast into prison.
This scripture puzzled me for a long time. Nobody wants to just agree with the one accusing him or her. What if the person accusing you is wrong? What if the person accusing you does not have the facts and is only aware of their side of the story. Worse than that is the question: What if that person is out to get me and destroy my reputation or wants to see me suffer? What about my side of the story? Besides, if you knew that you would probably agree with me! What if I am accused of something I don’t even know about and find out later? What if……….?
I was sharing with a friend in ministry last weekend and he is going through a terrible time where someone is accusing him of something. My heart broke for him and because I love him as a friend I wish I knew all the facts. I am sure his side of the story is not all the facts. So after listening to him I asked him what is he going to do about all the accusations? I was totally surprised by his answer. He said, “God told me not to defend myself.” It immediately reminded me about Jesus when He was standing in front of Pilate and Pilate heard all the accusations against Jesus. Pilate finally asked Jesus:
Matt. 27:13 Then said Pilate unto him, Don’t you hear many things they witness against you?
Matt. 27:14 And he answered him not a word; insomuch that the governor marveled greatly.
Jesus did exactly what my friend said. He did not defend himself. Now that is hard to do to say the least. I hate injustice and I hate when people take advantage of other people. I am sure it is the same with God as He is always protecting the widows and the orphans and warns against abusing the poor. Jesus kept quiet and Pilate was astonished. Why would He not defend himself?
I think it is liberating to understand that we cannot take responsibility for other people’s perceptions. You are not responsible for the way I see or experience something. If my experience is based on prejudice that I carry in my heart, you are not responsible to make me see it different. That is a responsibility that I need to take and work on in the issues of my own heart. The bible says that out of the heart are all the issues of life and if I have an issue I need to check my heart. If people have an issue with you they need to check their own hearts first. This is exactly what Jesus said when He told them to first remove the beam out of their own eyes before trying to remove the splint from their brother's eyes.
I gained some understanding of this verse after this meeting with my friend. When we are accused and we refuse to defend ourselves we can never stand in our own righteousness. Just in case we are wrong in something, it would mean that we would try to defend the wrong and then we are no longer standing in His righteousness. So when the enemy accuses you, agree with him. Understand that you do make mistakes. I am not saying agree with the accusation, agree that you make mistakes and then let God judge. When David killed Bathsheba’s husband and Nathan the prophet came to him to confront him about the sin, his first response was, “I have sinned.” When Samuel confronted Saul about his disobedience to God his response was: “The men made me do it.” David was accepted and God rejected Saul. Saul was standing in his own righteousness while David had God judge him.
No matter how hard this sounds, there is a key for us to live better. Never defend yourself! Let God judge because He knows all the facts. He sees you and He sees the one accusing you. He will deliver you even if you did wrong because He sees your heart. He is ready to deliver those that have set their hearts on Him. He is not asking you to never make mistakes, but He is asking if you will allow Him to fight for you. He is a Papa and He has a Papa’s heart. I will do anything to protect my daughter. She doesn’t even have to ask me for it and I always believe the good things about her before I will ever consider anything bad. I am not going through life blindfolded but I am a papa. The same things are true about your heavenly Papa. If we, who are earthly fathers, know how to give good things to our children, how much more will our heavenly Papa give good things and think good things about us.
Do not defend yourself.