The passage I read was 1 john 2:7-12
You can find that passage here:
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20john%202:7-12&version=NIV
My summary of the passage is this:
As I continue in this journey of loving more/judging less (for me anyway – don’t know what you might get from it) I read here John’s reminder that hate (which has been said the same as murder) is also a fruit of the darkness one must walk in to display it. Whereas love lives in the light where there is nothing to make one stumble. John then reminds that we have been forgiven on account of His name.
As I reflect:
Firstly, good to know who is being talked to here. John is writing to those who already know Jesus and are saved. These are Christians. He is writing directly to me (and you too if you are a reader with a relationship with the most High). So in this passage when he says “brother or sister” (or in some translations “neighbor”), he is actually talking about other Christians. As in we are to love other Christians and this is an evidence/result of walking in the light. Without this evidence, how can one say they are in the light?
I read a saying recently and don’t know who to credit for it, “Following Jesus would be easy if it weren’t for all the Christians.” Sadly a great number of people feel this way. For me, it would be slightly adjusted to my pet peeve, “Following Jesus would be easier if His followers valued His words more.”
I have noticed that this issue I have with followers misquoting the Bible, or leaders of the church teaching false doctrine, or (the big one to me) fake Christians who carry the title but not the life affecting beliefs may be a direct result from my learning wrongly to expect more from Christians than the unsaved. God is correcting that thought process through John. I am commanded to love them. It’s not optional. So what I am trying to do is modify my thinking to see others without the labels of sins and with only the label of “loved by God”. I must train myself to see past my pet peeve and love regardless. It’s rough to retrain myself, but thus far I have bit my tongue more in the last two weeks than perhaps a lifetime. I think it’s a good step in the right direction and I plan on continuing to take steps in that direction until I am able to see through God’s eyes and respond with God’s heart. For my failures on this journey, I am thankful for forgiveness.
My response to the Lord:
Lord, you are the light of my life. You are worthy of all I can give. You are holy and to be wholly praised. You have known me when my life was hanging by a thread. You could see into the depths of my soul and despite all the darkness that was there, despite my heart of stone you took me by the hand and pulled me a shore from the mire and muck I was drowning in. You saw me for my potential and you knew what you could do in me. You never labeled me a failure or doomed for hell. You instead performed surgery and removed my heart of stone, replacing it with all of your mercy and grace. I have a new heart because of you. I am loved undeservingly because of you Father. You gave me life abundant, and now I desire to give back to you. I want to help. I want to be used by you. God help me to see others as you saw me. Remove from me anything that is not of you and fill me completely with your Holy Spirit that I may be used to love others as you have loved me. May you fill me with a love that is blind; a love that is sacrificial; the love of a servant. Lord I ask for a love that is patient and kind. I ask for a love that doesn’t envy or boast and is not proud. I ask for a love that doesn’t dishonor others and that is not self-seeking, not easily angered, and keeps no record of wrongs. Lord place in me a love that doesn’t delight in evil, but rejoices in truth. Place in me a love that always protects, trusts, hopes, and perseveres. In Jesus name.
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