Skip to main content

Consider!

 

Thomas Jefferson once wrote, “A candle loses nothing when it lights another candle.” Sharing. Mentorship. Encouragement. Caring. Giving. Supporting. Like a candle lighting another candle, these words can be used to describe the Christian who cultivates and enriches the lives of another and empowers their local church.

This is why 1 Corinthians 13:7-8 becomes so powerful for us, as it states, “[love] bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. love never fails.” The phrase “all things,” can mean “all-encompassing” to emphasize that love covers “everything” and does not discriminate. Love is never removed, withheld, or adjusted to fit our emotions or how we feel at the time.

Love is always active. Love will always involve someone else because love isn’t independent. love is not something we keep to ourselves. Love is given away freely and generously. Love has been and always will be about expressing it towards others and within the church body.

This is why 1 Corinthians 13:8, concludes by saying, “love never fails.” The word used here is translated “does not fall down,” “does not become invalid” or “does not suffer ruin.” In other words: love is permanent, and it doesn’t fall apart or collapse.  Love, loves completely, no matter what.

Loving others, at this level, is what testifies to the world of God’s love for them.  1 John 4:7, 11 “…let us love one another, because love is of God….if God so loved us, we also must love one another.”

By no means is this a meager, stingy, and reserved effort on anyone’s part. It’s not something we can feel justified in “turning off” if we just don’t feel like it. We are empowered with a great measure of accountability to make sure we all continually “live out” this love at all times.

In other words, it is our responsibility to do this.  Hebrews 10:24, says to “let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.” The word “consider” is an interesting word.  It is written in the present-tense to signify an ongoing, unending process to “keep on” with spurring each other on.  

That means, we don’t stop or give up this process of looking out for one another nor do we quit the process of staying aware of recognizing the gifts, abilities and talents of others. When we “consider” each other, we are saying we accept our responsibility to acknowledge, engage and encourage each other. We also accept that it is our mutual duty to look after one another.

We can’t afford to delay or disengage and use excuses as if shyness or discomfort is our reason for not saying or doing anything to really love others. We will never be able to justify ignoring others or not connecting in some way.

We must surrender to our obligation to always show genuine concern for one another and with that concern, become diligent with being deliberate of other’s needs, concerns, abilities, gifts and usefulness. Bottom line: we will always be held responsible for each other. Let us, in these days of contention, hate and evil, be agents of God’s love.

Romans 12:3, “…Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us.” Romans 13:8, “Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law.” Let us consider how we can spur one another on towards love and good deeds.

Popular posts from this blog

Tetelestai!

Just before Jesus gives up His spirit on the cross, He utters a very powerful word. The word that He cries out is “ tetelestai” (tih-tellis-tie). When literally translated, this word means, “It is finished.” It can also refer to something completed or accomplished. The word occurs in  John 19:28  and 19:30 and these are the only two places in all of the New Testament where it is found. In the John19:28 passage, it is translated, “After this, when Jesus knew that all things were now  completed , in order that the scripture might be fulfilled, he said, ‘I thirst.’” Two verses later, he utters the word himself: “Then when he received the sour wine Jesus said, ‘ It is finished ,’ and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.”   Did you know that the word  tetelestai  was also written on business documents or receipts in New Testament times to show indicating that a bill had been paid in full? The Greek-English lexicon (by Moulton and Milligan) sa...
Read more

The 50-Days of Easter

Jesus rose from the dead. Period! He is alive. We are “easter people” and live daily as proof that He is risen from the dead. He did walk out of the grave. He conquered death. Jesus not only came back to life, but He stayed on earth to be seen by many witness.   1 Corinthians 15:5-8 , “ He was seen by Peter and then by the Twelve. After that, he was seen by more than 500 of his followers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. Then he was seen by James and later by all the apostles. Last of all, as though I had been born at the wrong time, I also saw him.”   After the resurrection, Jesus spent forty days on earth before He ascended back to His rightful place (1 Peter 3:22), and then there were ten more days after that before the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-47).   Jesus accomplished many things in this time between His resurrection and return to Heaven. One of the most important was actually a command to us. We refer to this impor...
Read more

Not Rejected

I think we could spend hours, if not days, in just the sixth chapter of John’s Gospel. If there is one thing that is made clear in this writing is that God is passionately pursuing us and bidding us to have a relationship with Him that is restored by His Son, Jesus.   There is one verse, in particular, that stands out to me. John 6:37 , “However, those the Father has given me will come to me, and I will never reject them.” Those that come to Jesus will never be rejected. If you come to Jesus, just as you are now, he will not turn you away. He gladly welcomes you to come to him.   It is not God’s design or plan that we live separated from Him. He makes the way for that relationship to happen. He initiated the plan. He paid the price. He gives freely. He gives us free-will to choose or reject that offer of reconciliation through Jesus, His Son.   God makes His intent clear:  Ezekiel 33:11 , “As surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the ...
Read more