I Have To Love… YOU? Really??
You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.
Reading this text for devotions, ( I have been in Galatians for a while) I was convicted in my heart of sin. And repenting of it I turned to my saviour and rejoiced in the glory of his holiness and asked him to increase my love for others. Oh, I tell you there is no more fulfilling way to live than to daily humble oneself before the throne of God’s mercy and grace in personal devotions and drink in God’s love and grace and let it flow through us to meet the needs of others. We are called to freedom, that is, we are set free, not for ourselves, but to be servants of each other! That is such a beautiful thing! But it is not really realistic is it? Servants of each other?
I have to love…
YOU??
Really?
Like I love myself?
That is not realistic is it?
Is it?
Today I when I read this passage and particularly the command to “Love your neighbor as yourself.” It became painfully clear that this is a command to take my selfish, self-centered, self-preserving, self-love and make that the gauge of my love toward others. I doubt I have even begun to comprehend the magnitude of what Jesus means when he tells us to love others as ourselves. But what I gleaned from this text today is this: Loving my neighbour as myself means that I have to want to share the gospel of Christ crucified and resurrected with my neighbour as much as I am glad I know Jesus myself. Loving my neighbour as myself means that I have to want to feed the hungry as much as I want to feed myself. Loving my neighbour as myself means that I have to want to shelter the homeless as much as I am thankful that I have a roof over my head! Loving my neighbour as myself means that I have to want to help those in need, with what little excess that I have been blessed with! Loving my neighbour as myself means that I have to want to clothe the poor with the clothes on my back and give them the shoes off my feet and the food off my plate. It means I have to cherish the lives of the millions of unborn aborted children as much as I cherish my own life, and my own children’s lives ….It means putting others first, in all things, at all times…
And…
I…
utterly…
fail…
And I praise God for his grace in Jesus Christ in spite of my weakness.
Oh just imagine if you and I would only care about others as much as we care about ourselves! What would the church look like if everyone of us put others ahead of ourselves? On Sunday when you sit down at church look around at your brothers and sisters in Christ. Then remind yourself that you are supposed to have the same longing for their happiness and joy and well-being and health that you desire for yourself…and if we don’t have that kind of love for each other, Paul sends us warning:”If you bite and devour one another take heed that you are not consumed by one another.” A congregation of people who do not serve each other in love may well destroy itself. So how are we doing? How is your church doing?
Instead of looking around and judging others for not showing love, I am going to ask myself, “How am I showing the love of God to those around me in my congregation?” I will still fail, I know that, but with prayer and in his strength, and with His love and grace, and the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit…maybe I can do a bit better than I am now…
What about you?
