Give People a Chance

I told them that it is not Roman custom to hand over any man before he has faced his accusers and has had the opportunity to defend himself against the charges. -Acts 25:16 (NIV)

Many serious charges are made against Paul that the accusers cannot prove. Festus, wanting to do the crowd a favor and wanting to avoid angering them by siding with Paul handed him over to Caesar. A few days later, Festus is talking to some other people and telling them about how he handled the situation with Paul.

I'm not sure that Festus was all that sincere in his dealings with Paul. He did seem to realize that Paul was innocent of the charges levied against him. He did turn him over to Caesar, presumably in an effort to allow for a fair trial. And yet it appears as if he was more concerned about passing the buck than he was doing what was right.

And yet I am struck by verse 16 and the need to give people a chance to defend themselves. I am often guilty of taking the hearsay of others as fact and without taking the opportunity to get to know a person and giving them a chance to refute the charges against them.

May God grant you the grace to be open-minded today and to see people as they really are.




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If you're interested in reading through the Bible in a year, tomorrow's suggested readings are Job 18, Psalm 114, and Acts 27-28.