Love

Love

"If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.3 And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing. 

4 Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, 5 does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, 6 does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 

8 Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part; 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away. 11 When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things. 12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known. 13 But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love." 1Cor. 13:1-13

            February is often thought of as the month of love since Valentines Day is during the month.  We could also, as Christians, because we start to celebrate the great love of Christ for us with the beginning of Lent.  Many will even sacrifice something, so they can focus on the love of Christ when they fast from what they love.  The above scripture contains what many feel as the greatest definition of what love is.  It takes up the whole chapter and though, in a short blog I can’t pull out all the awesome things from these verses, I want to point out a few things to think about this week.

            Scripture always builds off scripture.  In the previous chapters Paul was dealing with spiritual gifts.   Some gifts are more noticeable by men than other gifts and can lead to pride in the person who has it and jealousy in the ones who don’t have it.   Paul, in the first 3 verses, is pointing out that gifts don’t have value if they don’t have love.  Pride, selfishness and jealousy do not show love, so when these are present in the ministry of the gifts they make the gift or ministry useless.  Think about how we feel when someone does a good work only for show, not out of genuine love.

            Love is one of the hardest things to define.  Yet, Paul does a very good job of defining it as what it is and is not.  When you look at verses 4-7, which is Paul’s definition of love, it is all actions not feelings.  Today, we hear people say all the time that they don’t feel loved.  People break up or even get divorced because they don’t feel the love as they put it.  We show love by our actions, not by how we feel.  Sometimes feelings come out of our selfishness and not from our hearts.  This week take a few moments to go through this definition of love and ask, does my love for others demonstrate this kind of love?

            “Love never fails,” is how verse 8 starts out.  Paul takes time to say the spiritual gifts will someday come to an end as all things do but love does not.  Love is what will bring us to eternity with Jesus!  We need to all become grown up in the faith to know that love is more important and should be demonstrated by our actions, because that is what truly matters in the end.  The world is a hard, dark, and selfish place, but the church and its people should be different and truly be all about true love!  Jesus set the example and his love still endures and so too can yours.  Are you focused on your actions or are your actions coming out of your love for others?

            When it comes to all of Christianity, the most important things are faith, hope, and love and the greatest of them is love.  Loving God with our everything is the greatest commandment, followed closely by loving others as ourselves.  The ten commandments are all about loving God and loving others.  Jesus gave us the greatest example of love.  Are we following it?  Set a goal this week and keep it up all year, to love God more today than you did yesterday, and it will cause you to love others more than yesterday too.

Scripture is from The New American Standard Bible, copyright 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA

Photo by Jeremy Bishop on Unsplash

Making Jesus Known

Making Jesus Known

“’Let us alone! What business do we have with each other, Jesus, of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us?  I know who You are—the Holy One of God!’ But Jesus rebuked him saying, ‘Be quiet and come out of him!’”  Luke 4:34-35A

“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have command you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”  Matthew 28:19,20

            People today love sports and are quick to talk about their favorite teams.  Super Bowl Sunday had 111.3 million people watching according to CBS New.  Even though that wasn’t a record, there were still a lot of people watching and talking about a sport.  75 percent of Americans claim to be Christian (Newport 2015). Yet, Christianity Today reports one in five non-Christians claim to not even know a Christian. (Stocker 2013)  When I hear stats like that, it reminds me how important it is to get excited about Jesus and live for Him.  It’s so important that we tell people about Jesus by our words and actions.  When I look at the above scriptures there are a few important things to notice that should help motivate us to share our faith with others.

            The Devil and his Demons know who Jesus is.  Take a moment and let that sink in.  They also know that Jesus could destroy them and what will happen to them in the end.  Jesus came to save people, the demons don’t want people to know Jesus and be saved.  Because they know the truth about Christ, they can also distort the truth about Him.  That is why it’s important for us to proclaim that truth, so those around us know it.  Media, the internet, and even education can and are, influenced by the Devil.  Truth is hard to come by, but the truth does set people free.

            Many think that it’s only a job for pastors or missionaries to proclaim Jesus to others, but that is simply not true.  The scripture is clear we are all to be out there proclaiming the gospel to others.  We may not all be called to be pastors or missionaries, but we can all talk about our love for Jesus like we do our favorite sports team or even our favorite hobby.  If we all got excited about Jesus, like fans of the super bowl, think of the impact it would have on the world.  Remember that often times it’s our friends that have the biggest impact in our lives.

            Jesus is always with us and the Holy Spirt is in our lives. It can be scary at times to tell people about the Lord.  Many will say, “I don’t know what to say”, but because we have Jesus in our lives, he will direct our path and words if we let Him.  When I was younger, I remember telling people about the Lord in ways that, some might say, were not theologically correct.  I still lead people to Christ, because God used me and guided me.  Even if your words are not perfect, Jesus, through the Spirit, can use those words to make an impact in the lives of those around you.  Jesus is with you, take strength in that.  The Devil wants you to be scared, so that you will be silent and think you can’t do it, that way the Devil will keep your friends out of heaven.

            Many of us worry that we don’t have answers to questions that will come up.  As you grow in Christ you will discover that you never will have all the answers.  That will keep you in the word of God seeking more growth.   When people ask you a question you can’t answer, that is an opportunity for you to learn more and will strengthen your relationship with them and God.  Tell that person you will seek the answer and do just that.  For many people salvation  process that can take time.  It is also why we must teach others to observe all that Christ has command us.  The mission field is right outside the door.

References

Newport, Frank. 2015. http://news.gallup.com/poll/187955/percentage-christians-drifting-down-high.aspx. December 24. Accessed February 6, 2018.

Stocker, Abby. 2013. Christianity Today. August 19. Accessed February 6, 2018. http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2013/august-web-only/non-christians-who-dont-know-christians.html.

All Scripture is from the New American Standard Bible copy write 1995, The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA

Photo by rawpixel.com on Unsplash

Being Golden

Being Golden

“Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard others as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own interests, but the interests of others.”  Philippians 2:2,4

“In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”  Matthew 7:12

            In Arizona’s Superstition Mountains, is a gold mine that no one has yet found.  It’s the Lost Dutchman’s Mine. The Dutchman, when he died, left some clues and riddles as to where the mine is located.  As far as anyone knows, no one has found the mine. Many have even lost their lives in search for this valuable gold mine. Gold is something that has value, but we too can have value to others. The Bible has many great pieces of advice that, if followed, will make us golden to others.

            First, we need to become selfless people.  Have you ever been around someone who only cares to do what they want?  People who are focused only on themselves push away others because we too have things we like to do.  When we focus on others we show that we care about them.  It doesn’t mean we have to only do what our friends want, but we need to care about what others care about.  Make sure though, that you are genuine about it because we can pick out the fake person too.  Attitude about it is important.

            Second, humility is important.  Humility is to know that we have faults and we need to have an attitude that shows that others are better than we are. What are your faults?  Do you know them?  We know that imperfection runs deep in everyone and so we have no right to judge others about their faults when we ourselves have faults.  Until we judge ourselves and become perfect, we should just be thankful for the love of Christ and love others the same as Christ loved us.  He loved us even though we were sinners and even died for us.  What greater love is that!

            Finally, we are to look out for our interests too, but we need to do it in a way that also considers others.  In business and in life we may try to run over others in our race to the top or to get what we want, hurting those around us along the way.  Getting ahead in business and life is not a problem, but how we get there can be.  Showing leadership is not getting what we want by force and taking out others (not clear to me) it’s the ability to gain followers.  When we make friends, and help others along life’s pathway we gain friends, followers, and helpers when life can be hard on us.  Sometimes even the long way to get what we want, can be the right way.  The world says get what you want by any means possible and don’t care about others along the way. Yet when you hurt people and tear them apart, you not only lose their respect, you lose the respect of those who are watching you too.  Most importantly, you damage your Christian testimony.

            The golden rule found in Matthew 7:12 is still being taught to children today: “Do unto others as you would have done unto you.”  This rule should still apply to everyone young and old today.  Shouldn’t how you want to be treated be reflected in how you treat others?  If you want to be a person of great value, treat others as if they have great value.  When I go shopping I love to go to places that show great customer service.  I want the places I spend my money to value me and even if don’t get it, I try to show care and respect to the workers there anyway.  We may never find the Lost Dutchman’s mine, but we can be people worth more than his gold mine, or any gold mine is. 

All Scripture is from The New American Standard Bible copy write 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA