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The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness. Jeremiah 31:3
Nothing is harder than to love someone who is either unable to, or refuses to return your love. Extending love is personal. It’s intimate. It makes you vulnerable. You put yourself on the line and if you are accepted and that love is returned you feel fulfilled, happy, complete.
But when love is not returned, it’s like doing open heart surgery with a dull knife and no anesthesia. You lay your heart before the one you want to love you and if that person rejects your love he/she is rejecting you. You become like a warrior who loses his sword and shield just as the enemy attacks. There is no warning. There is no defense. There is no hope.
It’s that one aspect that makes God’s love for us so amazing. When we are rejected in our attempts at love our human nature is to withdraw ourselves. Depending on the situation, our withdrawal could be permanent. We evaluate the situation and decide that this love really wasn’t love at all and move on to find a new love.
On the other hand, if we are so dependent on that person that we MUST love them we may do anything to keep that love. Even if staying in that relationship means abuse, unhappiness or danger (even to the point of death). Our very being, our essence depends on our having this relationship. We stay in the ‘relationship’ but lose who we are in the process.
God’s love, on the other hand, says this: “I love you. I will always love you. No matter how many times you pull away from me. No matter how often you scream at me in anger and abuse my name and ignore my advances, I love you.”
He draws me to Himself. During those times of my anger He sits quietly, patiently. Knowing me so well that He knows exactly the time to come to me, when I can no longer do life alone.
One reason our Father is able to love this way is because our rejection of Him has no bearing on who He is; on His power to heal; or on His willingness and passionate desire to draw near to us. He is God. He is our Loving Heavenly Father and He pleads with you to come and rest in His arms and call Him ‘Daddy’. Passionate desire! How awesome is that! He’s not a shy lover waiting in the shadows for you to notice Him. He’s a passionate lover who pursues you, who makes every opportunity to show you His love.
With such a God as this what shall keep me from living life to the fullest? I am loved! Unconditionally, completely, eternally loved in spite of my stubborn will and my constant struggle to follow His ways.
With such love as this within me, how can I learn to love others in the same way that I am loved? How will the love of Jesus shine forth in new and passionate ways to those who have been shattered by forsaken love?
PRAYER: My Lord and my God. I am once again taken back in awe by Your great love for me. I ask once more that you would forgive me for ignoring your love. I’m stubborn and selfish and seek only my own pleasure when I should seek to give you glory. Help me to let your love shine through me so that I can be secure in whom I am and show Christ’s love in passionate ways to those in my world. Amen.
Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.” 1 Corinthians 15:33
It isn’t good for us to be alone. Even at creation God saw that all was good except for the fact that man was alone. He needed a companion that he could share the good and the bad with. So God created woman to stand at his side as his equal partner in life.
Today the one thing each of us still craves is relationship. We want to belong to something, to someone. We seek a cause that we can believe in and pursue because it makes us feel important. Our self worth gives us identity. It could be through a church, a relationship, a job anything that makes us feel worthy.
Jesus tells us we are to be the salt of the earth. For salt to be useful it must be in contact with the item to be salted. It intermingles, adds flavor and preserves. But salt is always salt. It doesn’t take on the quality of the item salted but enhances the positive aspects of the item salted.
Jesus also warns that salt can lose its ‘saltiness’ and become useless. It breaks down and loses its identity. Rather than maintaining its saltiness it takes on the attributes of the substance surrounding it. The salt no longer enhances the flavor or preserves as it once did.
As Christ-followers we need to be careful when we are in the world. It is too easy to get drawn into the negative attitudes about other people or those who are different than us. In an effort to reach out to those struggling with sin it seems right to downplay the sin in an effort to win the sinner.
Paul tells us in Galatians 6:1 that when we catch someone in sin we are to restore them gently, but the second part of that verse is a warning. We ourselves are in danger of sinning when we put ourselves in situations where temptations to judge, have a critical spirit or allowing pride to overtake us.
When Paul wrote to the Corinthian church he warned them that constant affiliation with those who were negative, judgmental or lax in their spiritual drive could pull us down. Are we to avoid such people? NO! We need to temper the negative with a strong drive to draw close to Jesus through our personal Bible Study and Prayer and by building a wall of positive influence around us made up of small group and corporate worship and prayer.
When we allow negative thoughts and negative attitudes to influence the way we act or think it robs us of our self esteem, our self identity and the dreams we have. Jesus’ ways are built on love and compassion not on critical spirits and verbal and emotional attacks. As a Christ-follower we are called to built up not tear down, to encourage not berate, to seek the positive in every situation and not dwell on the negative.
PRAYER: Dear Jesus. I get so frustrated by seeing the way in which people abuse each other and seem to take advantage of your love and Forgiveness. To make matters worse I have found my own attitude has become negative and angry with people I disagree with. As a result I am guilty of the very thing that I detest. Forgive me for my judgmental attitude, my critical spirit and my hatred. Empower me with your Spirit to love unconditionally and forgive freely. Help to continue to build a close relationship with you and other believers so that I can live in the freedom you have given me and accomplish all you have in store for my life. Amen.
The entire law is summed up in a single command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Galatians 5:14
For many people the idea of loving yourself sounds a bit suspicious. This is especially true for Christ-followers who have heard sermons on the dangers of pride and the benefits of being humble. But loving yourself is really the key to having a close relationship with God as well as with others.
Paul summarizes the entire law in one phrase: “Love your neighbor as yourself”. But we can’t love our neighbor until we love ourselves. Loving ourselves means that we are so comfortable with who we are that what others think of us has no bearing on how we feel about ourselves.
Jesus is the ultimate example of love. As the Son of God He knew who He was. That’s why He was able to respond so well to the attacks leveled against Him. Rather than reacting to the attacks in anger or becoming defensive, He responded in love and wisdom.
One of the most well used scriptures about love is I Corinthians 13. We call it ‘The Love Chapter’. The description of love in this chapter should be applied to ourselves before we can apply it to others.
“Love is patient…” We need to be patient with ourselves as we journey through life. Too often we get frustrated when we can’t accomplish a task or we fail once again or we fall into sin. Being patient with ourselves means we work as hard as we can to reach our goals (whatever they may be) while we acknowledge that we are only human. Thank your Heavenly Father every day for the fact that He is patient with you. Your actions and failures never surprise God. He never tires of brushing the dust from our clothes, picking us up and helping us back on the way.
“Love is not arrogant or proud…” Loving yourself means you have a grasp of who you are. You enjoy the gifts God has given you and use them freely and openly for His glory, but, at the same time you realize that your accomplishments are not because of you but because God is using you.
“Love keeps no record of wrongs…” Okay. So you failed again last week. Confess it, repent and ask God to help you do better this time. Loving yourself means that the mistakes of last week are gone! Move on now. Stop beating yourself up. Our Father is ready and willing to forgive you and you should forgive yourself as well.
“Love always protects…” If you love yourself you need to protect yourself. Don’t allow yourself to be put in positions where others can hurt you.
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, sometimes it seems like I fail You on a daily basis. I look in the mirror and don’t like what I see. I thank You for loving me as I am, for being patient when I fail, and for forgiving me when I rebel. Help me to live as a child of the King because through Jesus that is who I am! Amen.
But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. 1 Corinthians 15:10.
The ‘Cultural Onion’ is a diagram used to describe the cultural make up of individuals and societies and how that make up affects the behaviors of people. The concept uses the layers of an onion to illustrate the idea that the outer layers of a person are not, in essence, who that person it. To find the real person the layers must be peeled away until you reach the very core of who the person is.
All of our actions, feelings about ourselves and others, reactions to the circumstances of our lives and our values come from that inner core. The inner core of our being is what we hold as most important in life. It’s what we live for and what we base our life view on.
The concept is really a new way to explain what the Apostle Paul teaches us in I Corinthians 15:10. This verse is part of Paul’s teaching on the essence of the Christian life. It tells us why we do what we do. Everything Christ-followers do hinges on the fact that Jesus Christ was Son of God, crucified, risen and coming again. Nothing else really matters.
Whether we realize it or not, everything we do is based on how we view ourselves or, what is at the core of our being. Paul tells us a little about his self-view when he states that he is the least worthy of any apostles to be in the position that he is in. In other writings we see Paul, formerly Saul, as an aggressive, angry, hateful man intent on destruction of ‘The Way’ and all those who followed Jesus of Nazareth. Paul’s passion was based on his strong belief that these followers of Jesus were tools of Satan intent on destroying the true way to God. Paul was a murderer, a blasphemer and all around nasty guy.
But Paul had other qualities as well. The only ‘Bible’ the early Christians had was the Old Testament. Paul was an expert on the teachings of the law and as a contemporary of Jesus of Nazareth could very well have sat under some of His teaching. Paul’s education and heritage put him heads and shoulders above the rest of the apostles.
But none of that mattered. Paul took his self worth from the grace that he received through his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Paul took all the good of his past and realized that it didn’t measure up to God’s standards. He looked at all the bad of his life and saw no hope for any life at all. But when he looked at himself as God saw him, through the lens of Jesus forgiveness he was able to say, “all that I am is based on the grace given me.”
The same Grace that made Paul the great teacher that he was indwells each of us as Christ-followers. When you peel away all the temporal things of this world, your toys, your job, your friends and family, even your community or church activities, what is left? Like Paul, as we peel away everything about us we should be able to say, “I am unworthy of all I have. But what I am is very special because my being is not based on my own abilities, past or accomplishments. I’m important because through Jesus Christ I am a child of God, empowered by grace to change my world for Jesus.
PRAYER: Father, as I look into my past I see so many ways I’ve failed you and failed others miserably. The more I try to succeed the more I struggle to stay afloat. Thank you that the person I really am is the person that you have made me through Your Son, Jesus. Free me from my tendency to rely on my own accomplishments and strength. Empower me by Your Spirit to live according to who You see me as.
After removing Saul, he made David their king. He testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.’ Acts 13:22
Remember during recess when it was time to choose teams? Two captains were chosen to determine the self-esteem of everyone for the entire day, or life! We’d look around us and measure each other up. “I’m better than her.” “He’ll be chosen first.” “I hope I’m chosen!” Woe to the last two people in line. While both would be chosen, it was obvious they were the ‘worst players on each team.’
While age matures us somewhat, the process of determining ones worth has really remained the same. Back then, teams were chosen according to their performance. There were some mighty ‘nice people’ that were chosen last because it wasn’t about being nice; it was about performance and outward looks.
The Israelites chose their first king because he was good looking, strong, and powerful man. He stood head and shoulders about all the rest. Years later God sent a message to Saul. “But now your kingdom will not endure; the LORD has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him leader of his people, because you have not kept the LORD’s command.” (1 Samuel 13:14). Saul’s kingdom came to an end because of his disobedience and David was chosen as his successor.
Saul lost his Kingdom because of his sin and David was chosen because, as God said, ‘I have found David son of Jesse a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.’ What an ultimate irony. David? A man after God’s heart? The same David that was dishonest, an adulterer, a murderer and a really poor parent? How could this be?
Both David and Saul were like any of us. They were rebellious, sinful, selfish men. What set them apart from each other was the one thing we can’t see: the heart. When Saul was confronted concerning his sin he made excuses, blamed others and refused to admit he was wrong. Time and time again, God would reveal David’s sin to him and David would respond by saying, “I am guilty as charged O Lord. Please forgive me.” Was that the end of his sinful life? NO! But God can use a life stained by sin when that life is washed in the blood of Jesus and our heart attitude is to serve Christ.
God knew David would fail but He chose him anyway because of his desire, not his performance. People, even Christians, will still choose you by your past performance, but God chooses you because of your heart. Follow Him. Ask Him to help you leave the sin that encumbers you. Like David, it’s not about our past and inability to follow Jesus. It’s about our willingness to ask forgiveness for our mistakes and strive to live life the way God intends.
PRAYER: Father God. Like David my life is strewn with rebellion, stubbornness and just plain stupid choices. Thank You for looking at my heart and not my actions. Today, I confess to you my inability to live for you. Please forgive me of my sin and help me to live for you. I want to be a person after your own heart. Amen.
Mike Fisk & Built with Grace 