Dear Friends, 10-7 HOW SHALL WE LIVE?
We need directions to know how God wants us to live. They come from the Bible. The first and most important thing to remember is to put God first. We are to love Him with ALL our heart. There is no room to put anyone or anything above God. A wholehearted love is one that puts the lover in a place of preeminence.
Mr 12:30 And thou shalt
Spending time with that lover is of utmost importance.
Pleasing the loved one is our number one priority. We want to talk about the loved one when we are apart from Him. We even fear doing something wrong to God. We want His love and approval. And we have it. We are loved with a love that transcends all other love.
Jer 31:3 The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an
everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.To build this love for God we must get to know God. Through His word, and by ministering to Him. That means worshipping Him, and listening to Him when we are in prayer. There is a time to talk and a time to listen. No one can teach us like He does and no one wants what’s best for us like God does. Let’s look at a description of love, and it tells of His love for us.
1Co 13:4
Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, 5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.The fruit of the spirit also tells of God’s characteristics:
Ga 5:22 But the
fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.Eph 5:9 (For the
fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;)God is love, and wants us to also love one another. This is another thing that God requires of us.
Mr 12:31 And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt
love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.This is speaking about treating others as more important that yourself.
Php 2:3 Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each
esteem other better than themselves.To care about the needs of others more than you care about your own needs. Or care at least the same as you do for yourself. It means being willing to sacrifice your desires to meet the needs of others. When you love your children, that’s what you are willing to do for them usually. Well to care about your neighbor as yourself, it means taking time to get to know your neighbor. Asking how they are and listening to hear their answer. If you neighbor needs to get to the doctor’s office, you might have to give up your Bible study to help your neighbor. That is serving God instead of enjoying yourself with your friends.
Mt 25:40 And the King shall answer and say
unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.God cares for people and uses you to minister to them. Jesus came to serve, not to be served, to show us an example of how to be.
Joh 13:14 If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your
feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet.This was considered a lowly job. Doing this is one way of serving, and loving one another. What we do for others is not something we should look for praise for either.
Lu 17:10 So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are
unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.But God made us so that we could take joy in serving others. That is part of His plan. It makes us feel good. It is not something that we deserve credit for but what we ought to do, for Jesus. It’s as if we were doing it for Jesus according to His word.
In loving God with all our heart, we must acknowledge Him in all our ways. Then He will direct our paths.
Pr 3:6
In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.We cannot deny God during the week and expect Him to acknowledge us when we stand before Him.
Mt 10:33 But whosoever shall
deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.We cannot be wholehearted and be a closet Christian. How will our life witness to others if we don’t give Him the glory for what we do?
1Pe 3:15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a
reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:Our lives our not our own, we are bought with a price.
1Co 6:20 For ye are
bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.Jesus said this was the test of loving Him.
Joh 14:15 If ye love me,
keep my commandments.Jesus commandments were two: Love God with all your heart, and your neighbor as yourself. In this hinge all the commandments.
So you must put God first and others second. I come back to the Sunday school teaching: JOY=Jesus
Others
Yourself. Try it, it’s a better way to live. More next time.