“Why do you call me good?…Only God is truly good.” (Mark 10:18 NLT)
One of the most helpful insights the Lord has given me is the realization that I’m capable of anything – ANYTHING – given the right set of circumstances. The murderer, rapist, human trafficker, child molester, you name whatever is the vilest “crime” you can conceive, and I’m capable of that if I allow my mind and heart to be subtly led away from the mission of loving God and loving others. And before you judge me too harshly, so are you, my friend, so are you.
John MacArthur wrote: “The Cross is proof of both the immense love of God and the profound wickedness of sin.”
So, what do we do? What’s the answer? Space doesn’t permit me to print the verses, but 2 Peter chapter 1 outlines many ways that, if followed, will help keep us on track. The short answer is, love God and love others as you love yourself.
Jen Wilkin wrote: “We must love God with our minds, allowing our intellect to inform our emotions, rather than the other way around.” Couple that with what Bob Goff said: “We make loving people a lot more complicated than Jesus did.”
Our communications with others often carry some agenda, which essentially translates – we want to promote our preferences. If, by God’s grace, we set aside our agendas and simply love others for who they are, not who we’d like them to be, it will have a profound effect, not only on them, but on us, for Christ’s sake.
When it comes to sin’s subtle inroads into my life, my biggest battle is setting aside my personal preferences in favor of the directives of my Savior, found in His Holy Word, the Bible. I must stay close to Jesus by faithfully reading His Word, worshipping, spending time with His people and serving the needs of those in my sphere of influence.
I learned something at the church I attended in Texas that really resonates with my spirit. It said: “We do life together in groups, we serve together in teams and we do outreach through community partnerships.” My quote may not be exact, but the heart of the message to me is – we’re in this faith journey together and the goal of sin’s subtle pull is to keep us apart. We must not let that happen to us as His people, His Body, His family. We cannot allow sin’s subtlety to allow us to contribute to the disunity of God’s people, His picture of love and acceptance to the world, by shifting our focus from Jesus and what He did for us.
I believe Craig Groeschel was right when he said: “God is not calling us to (just) go to church; He is calling us to be His Church.”
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 