Faith, Hope and Love (2)

Posted on by korgrocker

“When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely. Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.”
1 Corinthians 13:11-13 NLT

We continue to look at the three eternal qualities that will surpass the spiritual gifts that Paul has been writing about in 1 Corinthians 12. Yesterday, we briefly considered the first, faith. Today, we move on to consider the quality of hope, something that is misunderstood in today’s secular society. We may start a holiday with the thought, “I hope it won’t rain at the beach”, or we might walk into the exam hall with the thought, “I hope that I pass this exam”. There is a rather depressing verse in Ecclesiastes, “It seems so wrong that everyone under the sun suffers the same fate. Already twisted by evil, people choose their own mad course, for they have no hope. There is nothing ahead but death anyway” (Ecclesiastes 9:3). The author of this Book, traditionally thought to be King Solomon, was referring, I think, to people who had no eternal God-perspective in their lives and, like lemmings, they were rushing on to a sure death and eternal misery. But Solomon quite correctly went on to say that hope is only for the living, and it is through our lives that we are able to live a life of hope. In Hebrews 11:1 we read, “Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see”.

The Biblical view of hope is defined as being without doubt. Our examples above imply that it might rain or we might fail the exam, building in an element of doubt, but hope lived out God’s way does not doubt because it is underpinned by faith. Worldly hope is just a shadow of what our hope in God really means. In Psalm 16:8-9, we read verses that are permeated with a Biblical hope, “I know the Lord is always with me. I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me. No wonder my heart is glad, and I rejoice. My body rests in safety”. There is an assurance contained within these verses that is unshakeable and an eternal statement of hope. So what is it that we hope for?

“I do believe, but help me
overcome my unbelief!”

We pilgrims hope in God for eternal life, including forgiveness of our sins and being with God forever. This hope also includes the future resurrection of the dead, being transformed into the likeness of Christ, and the ultimate redemption of both believers and all of creation. We also hope for strength, guidance, and completion in our spiritual journey through the Holy Spirit’s power to live a life that honours God. There is no room for doubt with such a hope, and we pray the same prayer as the father of the evil-spirit-possessed boy did, “ … I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24). Therefore, biblical hope is a confident expectation or assurance based upon a sure foundation for which we wait with joy and full confidence. In other words, “There is no doubt about it!”

The third eternal quality from the last verse of 1 Corinthians 13 concerns love. This is something that we considered a few days ago, and Paul reminds the Corinthians believers that this is the greatest of the three eternal qualities. So in conclusion, we read the last verse in 1 Corinthians 13, with the knowledge that “Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love”. Of course, we desire the spiritual gifts because God has provided them for us, to build up, encourage, and serve the community of believers, known as the body of Christ, for the common good and God’s glory. But underpinning them all are the qualities of faith, hope and love, and particularly love. Without them, the spiritual gifts will not be of any use.

Dear Lord, we love You, praise You and worship You today. Please forgive us for the times when we have failed to love others. Amen.

Love is …

Posted on by korgrocker

“Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.”
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 NLT

We read the list of qualities that describe true agape love and wonder how we can ever live up to them. But intuitively, we know that if we behave with love towards our fellow human beings, we will transform our sad and troubled world into a Utopia, a perfect society, with ideal laws, government, and social conditions, free from suffering, conflict, and greed, all because it is based on God’s Kingdom principles. But Paul wrote about love to the Corinthian church, which at the time seemed to reflect the opposite of God’s Kingdom living with its selfish behaviour. Earlier, we considered 1 Corinthians 6, where Paul remonstrated with the believers in Corinth for taking each other to secular courts to settle disputes. Then we read in 1 Corinthians 11:20-21, “When you meet together, you are not really interested in the Lord’s Supper. For some of you hurry to eat your own meal without sharing with others. As a result, some go hungry while others get drunk”. They had turned the Lord’s Supper into a meal of sorts, with those who were able to bring food and drink refusing to share it with those who were poor and lacked the necessary resources. Where were Paul’s teachings on love in all of that?

“Love is patient and kind”

These are verses that should be applied to our relationships with family members, both natural and spiritual. We should examine the way we treat others through the lens God has provided, as seen through Paul’s eyes, of the qualities required of believers everywhere. There is much to be written about each listed feature, but little to be gained by such an approach. All believers are obliged to sit down and dwell on how they treat others in the light of 1 Corinthians 13. I recall a family wedding that I attended, where the mother of the bride recited these verses during the ceremony. They sounded great and struck a chord of agreement with those present witnessing the marriage service, but what happened afterwards is another story. As we think of people we know, we often find many who irritate or hurt us. We know the boasters, the arrogant, the proud and the ignorant. We read the papers and soon find reports of injustices. Further afield, we read of wars and strife, intolerance and persecution, betrayals and so on. Enough to provide a stark comparison of opposites – God’s way of love and the devil’s way of pursuing evil and hatred. 

But isn’t it strange that we always look to others to love in the way Paul described? Instead, we should look inward at ourselves. Human beings are quick to observe what others are doing wrong, but rarely apply the same rules to themselves. We sit in judgment of others but forget what Jesus said in Matthew 7:1-2, “Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. For you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged”. 

In our churches and fellowships, there will be many opportunities to apply 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 to the relationships we have with others. Jesus summed up the driving force behind these verses with His words in John 15:12-13, “This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends”. And so today, we look beyond the faults of others and instead ask ourselves how Jesus would have behaved. After all, His love was such that He truly laid down His life for His friends. But more than that, Jesus loved the world so much that He died for everyone, past, present and future. Why? So that He could spend eternity with them, and save them from eternal life in a place without Him. That’s love, perfect love, just as Paul described and more. 

Dear Lord Jesus. You loved us so much that You died for us, so that through You our sins would be forgiven. Amen.

Tongues and Love

Posted on by korgrocker

“So you should earnestly desire the most helpful gifts. But now let me show you a way of life that is best of all. If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.”
1 Corinthians 12:31-13:3 NLT

“a noisy gong or
a clanging cymbal“

In the Corinthian church, it is believed that the believers there regarded highly all the tongue-speakers and those who could interpret the messages that came through the speaking in tongues. But Paul, at the start of 1 Corinthians 13, pointed out that such a gift was worthless unless it was used in a way that showed love for others. He was saying that no matter how good and accurate the message was, if delivered in a hurtful way that showed a lack of love, then it would not have any useful impact on the life of the church, or for the intended recipient, come to that. In fact, he was saying, it might have the opposite effect to that intended. Paul went further to describe how anyone, even with a perfect understanding of “God’s secret plans” or with a faith so deep that mountains could be physically moved, if they had no love for those around them, then their knowledge and faith were worthless. And he continued to labour his point with a reference to those who did wonderful philanthropic acts or even sacrificed themselves; this was also worthless without love. 

In our churches and fellowships today, there is not the same prevalence of the use of spiritual gifts. For example, it has been some years since I have heard a public message in tongues followed by an interpretation, even though I currently attend a Pentecostal church. However, in the days of the Corinthians, this was apparently commonplace to the extent that messages were coming one after another. There are those, of course, who deny that speaking in tongues today is valid, and a friend of mine who attends a Baptist church told me that should anyone bring such a message in tongues, then they would be closed down straight away. But the gift of tongues did not end in the first century, as some believe. In a place called Azusa Street, in Los Angeles, the Pentecostal movement was birthed, and tongue speaking was a feature of the revival there in the early part of the 20th Century. Since then, tongues in a public setting have been present from time to time, such as more recently in the Charismatic Renewal of the 70’s and 80’s, and should not be discounted. God is sovereign, and He will grant gifts as He sees fit to individuals who are open and willing to obey the move of the Holy Spirit within them. 

Love and the spiritual gifts
go hand in hand

However, the point Paul was making concerned love, agape love, which must essentially infuse our churches and fellowships. Anything else that happened, no matter how spiritual and wonderful it was, was of no good without love. I suppose, though, we could turn this around and equally say that a church with only love and no manifestations of the spiritual gifts was equally impoverished. Before believers can show love to one another, there needs to be a pastor and teacher showing them the why and the how. Biblical teaching is a necessary part of growing in love. Similarly, a prophetic message, whether from the pulpit or through the gift of prophecy, may highlight a situation where a manifestation of love is required. An evangelist is another gift of the Holy Spirit to the church, motivating the congregation to show Jesus’ love to the world beyond the church walls. And of course, we must not forget that the person in a wheelchair or in pain with an illness of some kind needs the love expressed through the Holy Spirit’s gift of healing and miracles. Love and the spiritual gifts go hand in hand and will work together to build up the church, making it more like Jesus intended.

So if we pilgrims were to gauge our prowess in love and the spiritual gifts on a scale of 1 to 10, where would we be? Good question, I’m sure you agree, but perhaps a difficult and painful one to answer. It’s much easier not to ask at all. We pray for God to continue to work in our lives. Yes, we will fall down from time to time. Yes, we will occasionally bottle it when a prophetic word comes to mind. Yes, we will fail to love someone as we should. But God will never give up on us, and He cheers us on when we fall. As we keep close to Jesus, we will find help in our hour of need.

Dear Father God. It is hard sometimes to love the unlovely, but that is what You have asked us to do. Please help us, we pray. Amen.

The Better Way

Posted on by korgrocker

So you should earnestly desire the most helpful gifts. But now let me show you a way of life that is best of all. If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.”
1 Corinthians 12:31-13:3 NLT

Paul suggests to the believers in Corinth that they should “earnestly desire the most helpful gifts”. We know that in the previous two verses, he listed apostles, prophets, teachers, miracle workers, healers, those who speak in tongues, and those who can interpret messages given in tongues, but these are not the only gifts necessary to help a local church or fellowship function. So what are the “most helpful gifts”? If we pause for a moment and think of our expectations prior to attending church on a Sunday, what comes to mind? Social interactions? A chance to worship God in a corporate setting? Or something else? One important benefit of going to church is that there we will hear what God wants the people in the congregation to hear. Some helpful teaching that will help us on our journey, perhaps. Or a prophetic challenge to unconfessed sin. Or a directional word from a visiting apostle. Perhaps these are the most helpful gifts. But we mustn’t minimise the other gifts.

“earnestly desire the most helpful gifts”

There may be someone in our congregation who needs a miracle, perhaps for healing or some other reason. But whatever the “most helpful gifts” are, Paul encouraged the Corinthians to “earnestly” seek them. In our churches today, how can we determine which gifts are the most helpful for us individually? We will only find out by seeking God in prayer, persevering until He provides an answer. And we know from the example of Moses, it might be many years before God finally blesses us with a greater gift. A person’s character must be able to handle one of the Holy Spirit’s gifts.

Paul then teased his audience with the thought that there is something else, that is good, or even better. This is “a way of life that is best of all”. We have to turn the page and read one of the most well-known chapters in the New Testament. It’s all about love. Not the sloppy or sentimental “love” that we often find on our screens and in books. Paul used the word “agape” when writing in this chapter, referring to the love that churches need to bind themselves together. A more detailed definition is: “Agape is a Greek term for a selfless, unconditional, and spiritual form of love that seeks the well-being of others without expecting anything in return. It is often associated with the love of God for humanity and is demonstrated through sacrifice, such as the Christian belief that Jesus died for the sins of others. In a broader sense, it refers to a profound love that is not dependent on emotion or circumstance and extends to all people, even enemies”. 

“To love one another“

Paul starts 1 Corinthians 13 with the thought that it doesn’t matter what language we use; if what we say isn’t said in love, then it is just noise. The Apostle John wrote much about love, and we read a bit from 1 John 2:7-8, “Dear friends, I am not writing a new commandment for you; rather, it is an old one you have had from the very beginning. This old commandment—to love one another—is the same message you heard before. Yet it is also new. Jesus lived the truth of this commandment, and you also are living it. For the darkness is disappearing, and the true light is already shining. “To love one another” was at the heart of John’s message to the churches that read his epistle, and that message has resonated with congregations ever since. Many difficulties in churches today can often be traced to a lack of love. Yes, the liturgies can be wonderful. The minister may be a gifted speaker. The worship band and the songs sung can lift the congregation’s spirits right to the rafters. But at the end of the service, and in too many churches, everyone leaves to go to their homes, and none of the issues that a loving church should be dealing with are even considered or prayed about. Hurting people come to church, and the same hurting people leave it at the end of the service, hurt intact and people still hurting. 

And so we pilgrims, look out for those in our churches who may be struggling with some issue or another. We must not rely on their openness, or lack of it, when we mingle with the congregation before and after a meeting. We ask our Heavenly Father to reveal to us those people who He knows have a need, and we remain open to being the ones who meet the need. That’s what the love that Paul refers to in 1 Corinthians 13 is all about.

Dear Heavenly Father. We know that attending church is not just about singing hymns and saying prayers. We seek Your heart for those around us, and pray that Your love will prevail through us. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Many Troubles

Posted on by korgrocker

“But if you do get married, it is not a sin. And if a young woman gets married, it is not a sin. However, those who get married at this time will have troubles, and I am trying to spare you those problems. But let me say this, dear brothers and sisters: The time that remains is very short. So from now on, those with wives should not focus only on their marriage. Those who weep or who rejoice or who buy things should not be absorbed by their weeping or their joy or their possessions. Those who use the things of the world should not become attached to them. For this world as we know it will soon pass away.”
1 Corinthians 7:28-31 NLT

Marriage is not a sin, wrote Paul, but because of the times, he said that those who do go ahead and get married will have “many troubles”. Were there any different challenges for married people in those days compared with those faced by married people today? Probably not, although the “troubles” would be of a different nature. Since the beginning of time, a marriage has taken place between a man and woman because of the strength of the love bond. Still, in this Biblical context, we are considering marriage between a believing man and woman, although the principles apply to all marriages. In Ephesians 5, Paul wrote about mutual submission, as Paul wrote in Ephesians 5:21, “And further, submit to one another out of reverence for Christ“. In the following few verses, Paul’s instructions about mutual love and submission include references to Christ Himself. “For wives, this means submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For a husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Saviour of his body, the church. As the church submits to Christ, so you wives should submit to your husbands in everything. For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her” (Ephesians 5:22-25). And he finished the chapter by writing, “So again I say, each man must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband” (Ephesians 5:33). 

At wedding ceremonies held in church, the passage about love from 1 Corinthians 13 is often included. Remember what it says? The part frequently emphasised is, “Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged” (1 Corinthians 13:4-5). The love referred to by Paul is the most critical kind, agape love. A definition of agape is that it is “an ancient Greek term for a selfless, unconditional, and sacrificial form of love, often considered the highest type of love in Christianity. It emphasises commitment to the good of another, regardless of their actions or any personal gain, embodying a profound love for God and fellow humans that persists through all circumstances“. In the marriage environment, an agape love is needed because two people with different and unbending agendas can otherwise cause the “many troubles” to be amplified, with unwanted consequences. Peter knew about this kind of love as well when he wrote, “Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins” (1 Peter 4:8).

But what about the “many troubles”? We who are married know all about them, and the relationship can become toxic if Biblical principles are not applied. It is a wonder that sinful human beings stay married at all, particularly those who are unbelievers, until we realise that every person, man or woman, has been made in God’s image (Genesis 1:27, “So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them”). How does that work out in a sinful and evil society? Often with great difficulty, because the devil loves to see marriages break up, but God’s qualities of love, righteousness and justice will prevail in any relationship. The troubles in a marriage can come between two people with different points of view, as they face external pressures such as a lack of finances, difficulty in finding suitable housing, and families, followed by health challenges, diets, and all types of preferences, some important but others relatively trivial. Most of these issues are best sorted during a courting period, but many couples rush headlong into a relationship before considering the consequences. Near where I live, there is a single man, now in his forties, who lives on his own with his dog, quite content with his singleness. But he shared with me one day that he had nearly got married and had even paid for all the expensive items, including a lavish honeymoon, before the enormity of what he was doing suddenly frightened him, and he walked away from the relationship. He has never dated a woman since. There are also anecdotal stories of couples who decide not to proceed with marriage after visiting a furniture store, such as IKEA, and their differences in taste lead to strife and the realisation that there is much to be resolved between them.

“Many troubles”? There are indeed many, too many to list here, but for sinful human beings, troubles in a marriage are inevitable. There is only one way to a successful marriage, and that is through mutual love, submission and respect. Together, and with God at the centre of their relationship, all troubles can be overcome.

Dear Father God. You ordained the sacrament of Holy Matrimony for a reason, because that is what You have desired for Your children. We pray that Your perfect arrangement prevails in our lives and the lives of our families. And we pray for all those we know who may be considering marriage or who wish to stay ummarried, that You will continue to love and bless them in their choice. In Your precious name. Amen.

Love and Life

Posted on by korgrocker

“This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command.”
John 15:12-14 NLT

‭‭In an earlier chapter in John, Jesus said, “So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other” (John 13:34). Jesus reminds the disciples of the commandment to love one another, a repetition that emphasises the importance of love. But this is not the emotional or sentimental love that our secular societies favour. To a Christian, this is the agape love that has a cost associated with it. A love that loves the unlovely. A love that goes above and beyond even to the point of sacrificing life for another. A love that a selfish and grasping world doesn’t understand.

In Romans 5:6-8, Paul wrote, “When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners“.‭‭ Then we read what John wrote in 1 John 3:16, “We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters”. 

In the case of the early Apostles, all except for John, ended up dying a violent death. So they did literally sacrifice their lives for their fellow believers. And many of the Early Church disciples also died for their faith. We can read about Stephen’s martyrdom in Acts 7:59-60, “As they stoned him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” He fell to his knees, shouting, “Lord, don’t charge them with this sin!” And with that, he died.” A Spirit-filled man murdered for His faith in Jesus.

But, practically, what does this mean for us pilgrims? We live in a society that would naturally prioritise its own interests before anyone else’s. There is a selfish motivation to grab the last seat on the bus before anyone else can get there. Or jump the queue at a supermarket. The common and motivation question is “What’s in it for me?”. Me, me, me all the time. But agape love is the opposite of all this.

Jesus said to His disciples, and, by extension, to us as well, that they should love others “in the same way I have loved you“. He taught much about love and when asked about which was the greatest commandment, “Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments”” (Matthew 22:37-40). In everything we do, we must be motivated by the same love that Jesus has for us.

Dear Heavenly Father. You love us with a love so extravagant it takes our breaths away. Thank You. Amen.

The Father’s Love

Posted on by korgrocker

“The Father loves me because I sacrifice my life so I may take it back again. No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again. For this is what my Father has commanded.”
John 10:17-18 NLT

Jesus said that His father in Heaven loves Jesus, His Son, especially because He was willing to sacrifice His life. Jesus’ obedience in fulfilling His mission of saving the world was one that we see develop through the pages of the Gospels, starting from an animal’s feeding trough and ending on a Roman cross at a place called Calvary. Jesus never wavered from completing His mission. He remained steadfast right through to the end. Paul wrote to his protégé Timothy the following, “This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”—and I am the worst of them all” (1 Timothy 1:15). Isaiah, the prophet, looked down through the tunnel of time and could see the Messiah coming. About Jesus’ mission he wrote, “For the Lord God will help Me; Therefore I will not be disgraced; Therefore I have set My face like a flint, And I know that I will not be ashamed” (Isaiah 50:7). Jesus’ primary role was “ … to seek and save those who are lost” (Luke 19:10), and His Father loved Him for His obedience for being willing to sacrifice His life to make it happen. 

It is interesting that Jesus also said that the sacrifice of His life was followed by His being able to “take it back again”. It was difficult enough for the people listening to Him to absorb and accept what Jesus was saying about laying down His life, but then to say that He would “take it back again” was beyond their understanding. But Jesus made the point that His death was His to control. Only He had the authority to lay down His life. No-one else could make that decision. The act of crucifixion normally left the poor unfortunate victim no choice in the way it was carried out and the consequence of a slow lingering and extremely painful death. But it was different with Jesus, because he had the power to avoid the cross altogether. He could even have removed Himself from the cross at any time. But He fulfilled His mission right to the end, even providing reassuring words to the adjacent criminal who, in His dying breaths, reached out to Jesus for forgiveness. Jesus was in total control of His life right to the end.

So to is no wonder that Father God loved His Son, because He did what He had been commanded to do. We will never fully understand that relationship between Jesus and his Father, but we see its consequence in our faith-filled, everyday lives. The same love that Father had for Jesus is also poured out on us, His children. 1 John 3:1, “See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don’t recognise that we are God’s children because they don’t know him“. Ephesians 1:4-5, “Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure“. So we see God’s love and try and emulate it, in a humanly limited way, in our Christian lives. And in the process, perhaps those around us get a glimpse of the Father’s love.

Father God. We sing about Your amazing love, but it goes beyond a song. It started at Calvary and has poured out on all mankind ever since. We are so grateful. Amen.

Empathy

Posted on by korgrocker

“Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all!”
Romans 12:15-16 NLT

What was Paul getting at when he wrote this? Were the Christians in Rome really so insensitive to each other that they failed to share their emotional needs? This simple verse is really an encouragement to empathise with their fellow believers, when they experience good or bad times. But before that can happen they must have a relationship with them, close enough to know them and what they are experiencing. Perhaps the Roman Christians were lacking in the relationship department. But whatever the local situation was, Paul felt the need to remind them of their obligations, and at the root of their relationships must be love, both for God and each other.

Jesus taught His disciples about the importance of loving one another. In John 13:34 Jesus said, “So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other”. Jesus didn’t give His disciples an option. They had to obey this “new commandment”. 

If we consider this verse, Romans 12:15, today, we immediately see that our churches mostly lack the love that was the distinctive feature of the early Christians. Instead we observe that some worldly features and attitudes have replaced it. Other priorities have become more important than loving relationships. Those early Christians would have given their lives for each other, and what they had they shared. They established a movement that was distinguished by love and it attracted new converts in droves. 

What love do we pilgrims experience? How do we love others? And are our love experiences focused on what we can get out of the relationship or the other person’s highest good? Our televisions portray a selfish love, perhaps between a man and wife, resulting in scenes of strife that may make “good” television but they also continue, and extrapolate, the damage that poor relationships can do.

Out of a true loving relationship, based on love the Jesus way, comes caring and empathising, an environment where people will share their hurts and fears, their good experiences, their challenges; in fact they will share life together. That will mean contact with people who we wouldn’t normally meet or socialise with. It will cost us something. Our time and attitudes. Our money and possessions. But we share with people who God created. Because He loves them, so must we. And we extend God’s compassion to those hurting people around us, as they will for us in our times of trouble. There is something precious about living harmoniously with each other. It’s an opportunity worth striving for, and one which will expose us to a relational richness that those in the world just don’t get.

Father God. We thank You for the love that You have shown us, a love so profound that You sent Your only Son to share it with us. We thank You for Jesus, and all He has done for us. Amen.