Don’t Be Their Hometown

Then Jesus told them, “A prophet is honored everywhere except in his own hometown and among his own family.” — Matthew‬ ‭13:57‬

These were the words Jesus spoke while in his own hometown. The crowd was amazed by what he had been teaching, but they soon became distracted by his past and the things they knew about him: “Isn’t this the carpenter’s son?”

They missed out on the miracles and presence of Jesus because they couldn’t let go of who they thought He was. They “bore witness and marveled” at the empowering presence of God on Him, but then they reduced him back to the familiar and lost out on the eternal.

I’m reminded every time I read this passage to let go of my own expectations of Jesus. But these words also remind me how important it is to not let anyone’s past distract me from what Jesus is doing in their life.

The person I was before I encountered Jesus isn’t someone I’m always proud of, and sometimes people will remind me of that. So many times I shared with someone about how God changed my life, only for them to remind me of who I used to be. So many conversations where friends couldn’t hear the words I was saying because of words I used to say. Where they couldn’t see what God was doing because of things I used to do.

But I was never a hopeless case to the God of Hope. And now, that’s my line in the sand. I will never call anything—situation, person, or relationship—hopeless. Because that’s a word that Jesus never called me.

If God is moving in your life right now, celebrate every victory, because those victories are what get you through the setbacks. Your situation is not beyond redemption, because we have a Savior that went to hell and back to make sure that nothing ever could be.

And if you know someone who has been going through hard things and is now saying God is doing a new thing, believe the best. Be the person who will celebrate with them and call them up into who they are becoming.

Always honor a move of God, because it’s your honor of Him that allows you to receive the blessing. The crowd in Jesus’ hometown refused to honor the anointing on Jesus, and he could do no miracles among them. Don’t miss out on the transformative power of the Gospel because you’re too focused on who someone used to be.

So many of us struggle with not believing the best because we don’t want to look like a fool, but I can tell you from experience: When you refuse to call someone hopeless—when you draw that line in the sand—you might look like a fool to the world, but you will be standing on the same side of the line as Jesus.

Be someone’s safe place.

Don’t be their hometown.