Judges 11:1 Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valour, and he was the son of an harlot: and Gilead begat Jephthah.
There are two factors in every person’s life that determine the honor they receive and the honor of which they are worthy. One is how they were born and a second is how they live. In many countries, honor is purely a matter of your heritage and your lineage. If you are duke, earl, or some kind of important person in the hierarchy, then you receive honor from others. In other countries it is more a matter of merit, what you actually accomplish. What does God think about honor and where it comes from?
The book of Judges tells the story of a nation that was greatly lacking honor and leadership, and you see that in story after story throughout the book of Judges. Chapter 11 tells us about Jephthah. It says, “Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valour, and he was the son of an harlot: and Gilead begat Jephthah.” That is in summation Jephthah’s life in a nutshell. Whatever else you may know about Jephthah, you know about his birth and you know about his actions.
As to his birth, he was “the son of an harlot.” This was a shameful birth. He was not an honored man. His very brothers cast him out and said, “We do not want him to inherit anything in our father’s house.” I can understand some of their sentiment, though it was wrong. But, “a mighty man of valour” is what describes Jephthah’s actual actions. Sometimes people are born into great honor, but then disgrace themselves by living. Other people are born into great disgrace, but live a life worthy of honor.
It is important for us to know that the measure of honor is determined, ultimately, not by how you are born, but by how you live. The Bible goes on to tell the story of Jephthah. Judges 11:5-6 says, “And it was so, that when the children of Ammon made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went up to fetch Jephthah out of the land of Tob: and they said unto Jephthah, Come, and be our captain, that we may fight with the children of Ammon.”
What follows is remarkable. There is an interesting discussion between Jephthah and the men who had cast him out but were now seeking his help. What is obvious is that they were seeking his help because he had proven himself to be a capable man. They wanted his help, not because of his birth or his lineage, but because of his actions.
There are some things in your life that you can’t change. You can’t change who your parents are, what your heritage is, or how you were born, but you can and should be mindful of how you live because that is a choice that you can make. You can’t say, “Well, I didn’t have a choice.” No one is doomed by their heritage, nor are they entitled by it either. We all have choices to make.
Today, I don’t know what things you cannot change, but it is a waste of energy to worry about those things. Instead, a worthy investment of your time would be to think about the decisions and choices that you can actually make. Seek God’s grace and His face to do the right thing, right now.
The Bible says that the people made Jephthah head and captain over them. He was a man of reason, a man of war, and a man of his word. So, Jephthah was a man of a meager and shameful birth, but he was a man who was deliberate, took his time, reasoned, did not shrink from a fight when it was right, and was empowered by the Spirit of God Almighty to do what no one else could have done at that time.
Today, don’t waste your time worrying about the things you cannot change. Trust God Almighty and His Spirit to help you do the things you should and to change the things that you can.