2021-09-10
Good Morning Dear Ones,
Last week’s discussion of agape love can be summarized as having the following traits: It doesn’t keep a record of wrongs; it’s never happy with evil; it’s patience and faithfulness never fail; it has nothing to do with speaking in strange tongues. The word in Greek for patience is makerothumia. This is a person who is able to avenge himself yet doesn’t do that. We learn what grace is from God and can extend it to others. EPH 2: 8-10, “For it is by grace that you have been saved through faith---and this is not from yourselves. It is the gift of God-not by works, so no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Once we have learned what grace is, i.e. unmerited favor, we can extend it to others ourselves. Having patience with the bad attitudes or behavior of others sometimes serves God’s greater purpose of making Himself known to them. Those given this grace and still unrepentant for their wrongdoing must suffer the consequences of undergoing spiritual death. They don’t realize how high the stakes are. I’m not writing about someone who commits a wrong and then apologizes and stops the attitude or behavior here. Instead, I’m speaking about a serial, unrepentant wrongdoer who refuses to correct these things to keep them in line with Christ’s teaching.
All of us should recognize that grace is a good thing that could only originate from God. RO 12: 17-21, “Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay’ says the Lord. On the contrary, ‘If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this you will heap burning coals on his head.’ Do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good.” As I was reading this passage, I recalled people who had wronged me, and I looked into how I responded to their behavior. There were times when I couldn’t respond at the time and did nothing, except to let my own life follow its natural course, a course which took me out of the wrongdoer’s sphere of influence. This was likely family members or those to whom I was subordinate in my work. However, there were others that paid the ultimate price and are no longer with us. Still others were given a chance to apologize due to my patience with their behavior. It’s not important who they were, but my response mattered. God was viewing me, not them, and yes, He was testing my resilience in letting His teaching become my habit. How do I know this? It is through my daily study of His word that allows me to know Who He is and for what He stands.
Am I perfect, or have I tested His faith in me? No, by no means am I perfect. I know now there were plenty of times when I did wrongs to others. In the early part of my life, I was angry due to my immaturity and the childhood I had in a dysfunctional family. I rebelled by hitching rides to school on a garbage truck, because I was too lazy to walk to school. I gave my parents a lot of stress by wandering off and not always meeting my curfews. In middle school, I ran around with the wrong crowd and did property damage (for which I endured deserved punishment). These were the days before I knew anything or cared little about God. I was not an easy child to raise.
Does God give up on us? No, and that’s what makes Him so holy and good. He kept after me and watched over me. He was there for me when trouble of a larger kind came to my life, and He still is. Last April, my husband of 44 years passed away. He has kept me strong throughout the ordeal that followed. There were administrative duties to be done, a memorial service in his honor to be accomplished, and two moves-first to my son’s home and then, shortly to a larger home for the four of us in our newly reunited family. While none of this is easy, it all must be accomplished. Throughout all this activity, God’s presence can be felt and so can His protection for all of us. Our God is both patient and persistent.
PRAYER: O Lord, what amazing patience and heart you have for us! You gave us free agency, so that we could prove our willingness to be obedient to You and Your teaching. We are so imperfect and self-centered. Yet you have told us that nothing can separate us from Your love. And so, You wait patiently for us to see our need to be dependent on You and so superior is Your wisdom that we should live by it. You don’t want us to stand on a mountain and wait. Instead, You created us for good deeds, which You prepared for us to do. When we come to the end of ourselves and yield to You, we can do Your work and You will take care of us. Real happiness is setting a good example for others to see in engaging actively in the Covenant of Grace. While You ask us to discover our faults and confess our sins to You, we can feel Your presence and protection in our lives. You have no evil in You and always act in righteousness [1JN 1: 5, 9]. We are blessed beyond our imaginations having a God Who is so loving and good. Your motives are always in our best eternal interests. Today and always, we offer You our praise and thanks, in the holy/mighty name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: I’m commanded to continue my discussion of agape love, taking a closer look at God’s patience with us and more. Whether or not we call evil darkness or unrighteousness, it doesn’t matter. It’s a fact that evil exists in the world, and that we aren’t in control of some of it. The committing of unrighteous and hurtful acts benefits no one. The person doing it will eventually be punished by God, if he persists. The person is hurt whom he wrongs, so there is no benefit to him either. I have seen this happen in my own lifetime. Eventually, all of us will undergo physical death, but the righteous believer can enjoy eternal life. The latter is the greatest reward the Lord can give, and it isn’t given easily. Awareness of the difficult decisions God must ultimately make helps those of us who gain eternal life to appreciate it all the more. We are complex beings, and none of us is perfect. Only God can perfect us in the process of sanctification, i.e. polishing our dull surfaces, so His light can shine through. God is often disappointed with our attitudes and behavior. Yet, He won’t give up on us. That’s because He is a righteous God Who loves us as no other human being can. Praise and thanks be to Him!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn
JS 24: 15
© Lynn Johnson 2021. All Rights Reserved.
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