We Know
The born-again Christian knows intuitively—we might not always be able to verbally express it, but we know. And when you think about it, much of our spiritual-walk revolves around the concept of knowing Jesus better. Amazingly, as we grow spiritually, we recognize that we do not ‘have to’ do much of things associated with our faith, but rather that we ‘get to’ do them. Somehow the Lord plants a seed of desire [for us] to be in His Word, to be in fellowship, and to be in communion with Him. In so doing we learn more about ourselves as God reveals our true hearts to us.
You have heard that it was said to those of old, ’You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. Matthew 5:21-22
Jesus taught us that we can kill with our words as well as our actions. Have you ever stopped to think what actually occurs when we mockingly roll our eyes when someone else speaks? In a very real sense it operates the same as an evil word or gossip—whether it is true or not, that other person becomes whatever it is we say (or gesture) about them. Jesus tells us we are committing murder and Proverbs 18:21 serves to remind us that…
Death and life are in the power of the tongue…
Someone’s Gotta Die
As we grow in the Word we gain a deeper understanding of what Christ did for us, and in so doing, we gain ability (and a desire) to do similarly for others. Again, all the more reason to be in the Word, in fellowship, and in prayer. However, with all this knowledge we soon learn that there is an obstacle that lies in the path of actually applying it—our flesh. With Jesus as our example we discover someone is going to have to die.
What?
I am not talking salvation here (Jesus died once for all men—this deed does not have to be repeated), but we are talking about reconciliation. In order for there to be peace (for God’s love to flow freely), the Christian needs to die to self; the selfish needs of the Christian need to be willingly (not grudgingly) put aside. In order for love to gush forth, our agendas need to be pushed off the stove, not merely shoved to a back burner. While it sounds difficult, in reality we know it is not.
Nothing to Lose
But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? 1 John 3:17
In a very real sense, the Christian has it all, or at least we should understand we have all that we need. When we have a dispute with another person, what is it we are really holding on to and truly, what is it we are afraid to give away. It is in these times we need to ask the Lord to examine our hearts so that we might see the silly, prideful thing we selfishly cling to. We can say we love folks all we want, but if we are unable to express this love by letting go of something that is near and dear to us (like our pride), how true is our love? Does Jesus ‘really’ abide in such a person?
My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. 1 John 3:18
What a wonderful lead into my daily appeal to sponsor a Compassion child. Again, I feel compelled to say that these blogs of mine are not merely spiritual threads designed as a commercial for Compassion International. However, I cannot help the fact that so often the truthful essence of God’s mandates; His great Commission and Great Commandment, are the backbone of the Compassion ministry. Having said that, without apology I will echo the petition of the Apostle John…
Let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.
Please Sponsor a Child
Compassion Dave’s “Blog of the Day”
‘Little Girl in the White Dress, ’ by compassion kirk
And of course, for consistent Compassion-related issues, please visit the Compassion International Blog
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[...] us, we intuitively know what is right and what is wrong. As I mentioned in yesterday’s blog, ‘we might not always be able to express it in words, ’ but that reality does not negate the fact that we ‘know’. As we grow in faith and leap [...]