“Finally, all of you should be of one mind. Sympathize with each other. Love each other as brothers and sisters. Be tenderhearted, and keep a humble attitude. Don’t repay evil for evil. Don’t retaliate with insults when people insult you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God has called you to do, and He will bless you for it.” (1 Peter 3:8-9 NLT)
What does the Lord expect of you and me? When we open our heart and mind to Him and He fills us with His Spirit, what is His desire for us from that point forward? Yes, of course, He gifts each of us differently, so, in some respects His desires differ for each of us; however, there are commonalities that He expects from every believer, some of which are outlined in Peter’s words above.
Notice at the top of His list is unity, yet, in the Body of Christ we too often experience great division and disunity. How do we change that? One relationship at a time! I love Paul’s words in Roman’s 12:18: “Do all that YOU can to live in peace with everyone.” Unity begins with me and you loving Jesus, then loving each other. I don’t have to agree with you in every detail of Scripture to love you and to live in harmony with you. Being of “one mind” doesn’t mean thinking exactly alike, it means having the same goal of living in loving obedience to our Savior together. My wife and I don’t always agree, but we don’t let it interfere with our love for one another.
Another dimension of our love for one another as believers is being tenderhearted, which is simplified when we can maintain a humble attitude. Not thinking too highly of ourselves goes a long way in enabling us to think rightly about others, which includes, but isn’t limited to being tenderhearted. What comes to mind when you think of something being tender? A steak? A baby? A puppy or kitten? A heart in love for the first time? Tenderness grows out of empathy which grows out of our love for Jesus.
Something few of us have the courage to reckon with is the fact we’ll never arrive, in terms of our Christlikeness, this side of eternity. Bob Goff was right on when he wrote: “Our problem with following Jesus is we’re trying to be a better version of us rather than a more accurate reflection of Him.” As long as our focus is on ourselves, we’ll have very little tenderness towards others; thus, more inclined to repay evil with evil or to retaliate with insults when we’re insulted rather than reflect the Lord’s character in our kindness.
Ed Stetzer was right when he wrote: “God does not direct us to use ungodly means to accomplish godly ends,” and there’s no greater end than being like Jesus. But we must be quickly reminded that, as Dave Harvey says: “Our failures are never big enough to interrupt God’s plans for us.” We’re all on a journey with Jesus that will end at His feet in heaven, but in the meantime, we must allow the Spirit to fill, empower, and enable us to love well and live well, that we might maximize our potential for Him.
Bob Goff again challenges us when he writes: “Extravagant love often means coloring outside the lines and going beyond the norms.” “But how? What might that look like?” It will look more like Jesus than us! It will require prayerful attention to His voice and His directives. It will require sensitivity to the Spirit’s leading in every circumstance and with every person. “But I’m not there yet!” Welcome to the club dear brother or sister. None of us are or ever will be this side of heaven, but it can’t stop us from giving everything we are to get better every day. “But how do I get there? Where do I even start?”
Again, Bob Goff offers helpful counsel when he writes: “Don’t worry about all the steps. Begin.”
Food for thought.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 