SHEEP VS GOATS

The difference between sheep and goats ... 

Sheep show their dependence upon a shepherd and are inclined to stay close to him. They follow his voice and trust that he will lead them to food, water, and safety. If they wander (which some do) ... the shepherd will seek them out, rescue them, and bring them back into the fold. 

That is the very heart of Christ concerning His followers ...

What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine and go to the mountains to seek the one that is straying? And if he should find it, assuredly, I say to you, he rejoices more over that sheep than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray. Matthew 18:12-13

Goats tend to make their own path in life, independent from the guidance and protection provided by a shepherd. They go where they want, foraging for anything edible that comes into view instead of partaking of the nourishment provided by the shepherd.

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. Psalm 23 

Sheep have a gentle and yielded spirit.

Goats have a spirit of defiance and self-will.

I am the good shepherd, and I know My sheep and am known by My own. As the Father knows Me, even so, I know the Father, and I lay down My life for the sheep. And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd. John 10:14-16

If we are allowing ourselves to be led, sensitive to the pull of God’s Spirit, and following the path of our Shepherd ... we are His sheep. If we are headstrong, going our own way, and pulling back against God’s Spirit, we are goats.

So why should we care about these Scriptural depictions? 

There is coming a day when judgment will fall upon mankind and your identity as a sheep or goat will be brought to the fore ... 

When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Matthew 25:31-33 

There is no third category.