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He's Preaching About You

 

2 Chronicles 18:7

"And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man, by whom we may enquire of the LORD: but I hate him; for he never prophesied good unto me, but always evil: the same is Micaiah the son of Imla. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so."

Have you ever felt that the preacher is always preaching about you? In the verse above, Ahab felt that the Prophet Micaiah always preached against him. When Jehoshaphat asked if there was a prophet who could give them advice on whether they should go to war, the first prophet Ahab thought about was Micaiah. The only problem was that Ahab did not like this prophet because he always preached against his wicked lifestyle.

It is good when you feel that a preacher is always preaching to you. I know this may sound strange, but it is good because that means God is not done working with you. If God never speaks to your heart through the preaching, then you should be concerned. Furthermore, most likely the preacher does not have you in mind when he is preaching. You need to understand that there are many people to whom the preacher is preaching, and it is only the Holy Spirit of God Who is directly pointing out to you your sin through the sermon.

When someone feels the preacher is preaching about them, they usually respond by getting mad. When you get mad at the preacher, you are in essence getting mad at God. It was not the preacher who chose to preach that sermon, but it was God Who told the preacher to preach that sermon. Too many people feel the preacher has it out for them. From my experience, I don't know of any preacher who preaches a sermon directly at one person. If he does this, then he won't have a congregation for very long. Though there is probably an exception to this, you must realize that the preacher is probably not trying to point you out, but he is probably trying to help you become the Christian God wants you to become.

Instead of getting mad at the preacher, you should change the area in your life about which he is preaching. If what the preacher is preaching is truth that is found in the Word of God, then your response should be to change your life so that you no longer are convicted when he preaches on that subject. Even if the preacher was preaching at you, if what he was preaching was truth, then changing your life to live right will keep the preacher from having that opportunity again.

Your attitude towards preaching reveals the spirituality of your heart. If you get mad at preaching, then you are revealing that your heart is not right with God. If you humbly accept the preaching as God speaking to you, then you are revealing that you have a tender heart that desires to do what God wants you to do. What is your attitude towards preaching? Do you feel that you are always being pointed out? Then change what you're doing so that it doesn't happen again.