2021-12-10
Good Morning Dear Ones,
As we continue on what the Holy Spirit is giving me on agape (God’s love), we find that two of the ways it never fails is in transforming us and leading us to forgive wrongdoers in our lives. With some people who are in the habit of holding grudges, it may take more time than someone who doesn’t. There are some wrongdoers that I call “EGR People.” EGR stands for “Extra Grace Required.” These are the people who need us to pray for them and be patient about them recognizing they were doing us wrong. You’ll remember I mentioned that three women at different times lost their tempers and patience with me. They said things that were disrespectful to me. I did what I needed, despite being upset at the time. That was to say nothing and to wait. Trying to solve disputes while in the heat of emotion doesn’t work! Sometimes, the wait seems to go on a long time. But, at the times I did, the wrongdoers eventually realized the error of their words and behavior. Each time this happened, I eventually received an apology letter and explanation. By my not holding a grudge, the relationships were salvaged. Please don’t think that I am describing myself as perfect and righteous in every instance. There have been times when I foolishly lost my temper with another person when I was wrong. I later discovered that I had put my foot squarely in my mouth or there was a misunderstanding that could have prevented my ungodly behavior.
You’ll notice that I neglected to mention that my ungodly behavior occurred before Christ made His presence in my life known to me. RO 5: 1-5 explains how God’s grace, His way of showing His agape (love). This is how agape is transformative. “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from death through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. If we have been united with Him like this in His death, we will certainly also be united with Him in His resurrection.” We should no longer be slaves to sin. If we believe we died with Christ, we also believe that we live with Him. So, we are alive to God in Christ. This means that we don’t want to sin anymore, even though we can sin. RO 5: 14, “For sin shall not be your maser, because you are not under law, but under grace.” We are now slaves to righteousness. RO 5: 23, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
In the past I reiterated this truth: Christ is our Kinsman Redeemer. 1 JN 3: 16, “This is how we know what agape is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for other people.” A kinsman redeemer is a “covenant partner,” and thus, has the same friends and enemies as we do. We must understand, then, that God Himself is our Covenant Partner. We have been adopted into the family of God, and thus, He deserves to have us eschew sinning. 1 JN 4: 9, “This is how God showed His love for us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him.” What are the two characteristics of agape? (1) God is wholly unselfish and generous. He doesn’t hold anything back. Remember the story of how Isaac’s physical life was saved in GN 22: 8? Abraham was able to say, “God Himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” This is the architype (forerunner) for the gift of life in Christ and Christ’s resurrection. (2) The second characteristic of agape, mostly shown above, is how agape leads to eternal life.
PRAYER: O Lord, when we speak of human love, it is mostly a feeling. When we examine Your love, it is more of a response than a feeling. Agape requires surrender, something hard to impossible for a human with feelings to give. You respond to the empowerment and temperament of the Holy Spirit. From this response, we can see that a human’s love is something quite different. Agape is divine, whereas human love is a feeling that doesn’t come from God. Human love is fueled by needs or desires of the self or other people. We approach You with confidence that You are listening to our prayers and with the freedom You have given us through Your agape to ask for Your interaction with us to show us how- to live in Christ. Give us patience with wrongdoers and Your wisdom in handling disputes. We offer You praise and thanks for the many blessings that arise out of Your agape. You generously bestow on us and guide us into right living. You are a gracious and kind God, and we thank You, in the holy/mighty name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: I’m commanded by the Holy Spirit to continue writing about the various aspects of agape. I’ve often been given the metaphor of plugging and unplugging sin. What I mean here is that before Christ enters our life, we have no choice but to sin. We were born with original sin and other sin that we add to our lives. However, once Christ enters into the picture and we have genuinely professed faith in Him, we now have the choice to “unplug” sin, if we live according to the Lord’s teaching. It isn’t always easy, because we retain ability to sin, but we choose not to sin, because of His impact on our lives. My own experience is that we think differently and see our world differently. We are in this world, but not of this world. 1 JN 4: 4, “You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the One Who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.” And Who is that One? It’s the Holy Spirit, Who gives us the power to overcome the temptation to sin! It is the Father through the Son! We may not deserve the grace given us, but God gives it to us through His agape. 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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