Romans 12:9-13
9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiri- tual fervor, serving the Lord. 12 Be joyful in hope, patient in afflic- tion, faithful in prayer. 13 Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.
Now after a little more than six weeks of doing things differently, having to minimize our social activities and gatherings, the requirement of practicing social distancing and having to wear a face mask when we are out in public; for some of us is becoming a challenge on our patience. With all the shortages of many products that we use regularly such as toilet pa- per, bleach, disinfectants, and now with poultry and beef products has added to the challenge of our ability to adapt and not be upset by these temporary shortages. Depending on where you go, we are required to wait in lines. In addition to all this, for some individuals who are reading this, the loss of income and even their employment has raised their anxiety level and put their faith in God to the test. How has all the changes be- cause of this COVID-19 pandemic been affecting you and your relationship with God?
Some have been able to continue with their regular routines with little changes, but on the other hand, many others have had to make some major adjustments and changes to their way of life. Those with aged chil- dren at home are now having to add teacher to their responsibilities as parents.
After almost two months of all this, if it has not already, for many us, our patience is really being tested and for some beginning to run thin if it has not already run out.
What have we learned about who Jesus is in us because of all this? Or in other words how have we realized the way Jesus’ character is being displayed in our thoughts, attitudes, words and actions? Or, how the Holy Spirit has been talking to us about how we have NOT been displaying Je- sus’ character in our thoughts, attitudes, words and actions as we should?
How can we recognize the way Jesus’ character is displayed in us? If we read the short letter of 1 John, in its five chapters, we will learn much about God’s love and the love of God in us. One very important way to realize or to see Jesus’ character in our thoughts, attitudes, words and actions is how God’s love is works in us and through us. In the New Inter- national Version of the Bible, the book of 1 John contains the word “love” thirty-five times, reading 1 John 4:7-8 we see very clearly about the love of God in us. 7 Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. 8 But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
I am sure during these past weeks of living with all the new adjust- ments we have to make, there have been moments and situations where we did not display God’s love through Jesus’ character in our thoughts, at- titudes, words and actions as we should have. Why? When that happens, we always first must look at ourselves and not blame anyone or the situa- tion we are facing. We always should look at ourselves first and be aware of how the person and or the situation is affecting us. We also should ask ourselves this question. How can I display God’s love or Jesus’ character at this challenging and difficult moment? And if we “blow it”, we need to ask the Holy Spirit to show us why was I offended, sarcastic, rude, impatient, angered, anxious, fearful and so forth?
It is also easy to beat up on ourselves because we “blow it”. It is even easier to criticize another Christian because they did not display God’s love or Jesus’ character as we think they should have. This usually happens when we are not listing to the Holy Spirit about how WE should be display- ing God’s love in us in spite of the situation at hand and or other person’s attitude, words or words. Yes, another Christian’s or person’s immaturity might be bothering, hurtful, inconsiderate and much more, but we always first need to listen to the Holy Spirit, listen and know ourselves. Our spiri- tual ears must always be listing to the Holy Spirit’s voice speaking to us especially during these challenging times. As we submit and obey to what the Holy Spirit is telling us will be the opportunities that cause us to grow up and mature in our relationship with Jesus. When we do pay attention and act to what the Holy Spirit is telling us, many times we will easily see and understand why what was done and or said so easily affected me.
We might not be able to control what comes out of a person’s mouth or to govern their actions, but we can always choose how we will react to what they say and or do to us. A good example of this is found in Acts 16:16-34, read the full account of what happened to Paul and Silas.
“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God…” Acts 16:25
As we mentioned earlier, one very important way to realize how God’s love is working in us and through us is to see Jesus’ character in our thoughts, attitudes, words and actions. But what does that look like? The apostle Paul writing to the Corinthian church, and us says the following.
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 1 Corinthians 13:4-7
We must keep in mind that the context of 1 Corinthians chapter 13 is the introduction to the purpose and function of the vocal gifts of the Holy Spirit in a church service setting. A major spiritual principle that ap- plies to all of us is that in any setting, in every place and in every situation is to “follow the way of love”, 1 Corinthians 14:1a, which is saying that the love of God needs to be the foundation in a Christians life and dis- played in our character. When this is the reality in our lives the results are that who Jesus is in our lives is experienced by others because God’s love in us is how Jesus’ character works through us and the result is others will be strengthened, encouraged, comforted, built up, edified and the focus will always be on God and not us.
We all should have the faith and hope in God to deal with the many difficulties that comes our way throughout the day which at times chal- lenges our relationship with God. And we also should have enough faith and hope to help others with their struggles, lack of patients, fears, despair and whatever else that they are confronting. That is why we need the love of God always flowing through our lives as the Holy Spirit works in us. The awesome result will be we will realize Jesus’ character in us as others ex- perience God’s love through us.
Pastor John
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
1 Corinthians 13:13
