25th October 2023
Love because we are loved
I watched my news feed light up with the serious happenings in the world, and as it often happens, soon would come the irate words of others who condemned this situation. Unkind words and visions of the worst kind popped up as others gave their solutions and their warnings. They were hate-filled words, fingers pointed at others, and in doing so, a declaration was given that they were all-knowing. I am not going there. I said to myself, how can any of this help anyone? I recognise that even these people are filled with hurt of one kind or another. Do they have the Spirit of God within them I wondered, the Spirit of God’s love? How careful we must be in this world. As Christians, we are to be examples of God’s love. I am a sinner just the same as everyone else. We all need the saving grace of God. I have no right to throw stones.
1 Peter 2:1 (NIV) begins with the word ‘Therefore.’ Peter says, ‘Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind.’ We always need to go back and find out what is meant by the word ‘therefore.’ Peter had been reminding the followers of Christ of how they had been saved by the grace of God, and so they were called to be holy, as God is holy (1 Peter 1:15-16). They had been saved by the precious blood of Christ, not their own efforts and it was only by the grace of God that we have faith and hope in him (verses 19-21). Now because of the saving love of Christ, we need to love one another with a pure heart as we are loved by God. This leads us to Peter’s ‘therefore’, because we have been so loved, we need to cast off anything that gets in the way of this love.
I am not saying that to harm anyone who is justified, I must hate the sin but love the sinner. Though those in Jerusalem would soon kill the Son of God, Jesus still mourned over their ways and wept for them (Luke 19:41). Jesus wept because they did not recognise the Son of God in their midst, they rejected their own salvation because of ignorance. Instead of condemning words, we should be weeping over their lack of understanding and praying for their hearts and minds to be open to the truth. We are not to be a source of further division, but a healing balm that brings restoration. We can get wrapped up in the fact that we are chosen by God, but do not forget that this was for a reason, to declare the praises of God, and not our own (1Peter 2:9-10), because we have received mercy, we are to be bearers of that mercy as well.
Therefore, we have a great responsibility to represent God to his honour and glory, to represent the truth, to love God, and love our fellow mankind. I do not have this naturally within me, and I need the prompting of the Spirit, the guidance of God. Praise be to our Lord and King, that he has given us his forgiveness, that we have been saved by his sacrifice and not given his condemnation. My heart hurts over the damage done to others in the guise of righteousness. There is only one righteous and good, and that is our God.
Prayer
Loving Father, please forgive us and have mercy on us all; and because you do, I praise your mighty and glorious name. In Jesus’s, Amen.
Study by Anne Gillam
About the writer:
Anne Gillam is a retired Pastor in Grace Communion International, Klamath Falls, Oregon, USA.
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