Devo post #6

9/2/14

1 Thessalonians 2:8

so we cared for you. Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well.

This is very straight forward. To share the Gospel is probably the single greatest act of love anyone can do for one another, because the Gospel is life and truth and freedom. The Gospel brings us God and Christ and Love. Without the Gospel, we are wretched creatures doomed to hell by our very existence. We deserve nothing, but through the Gospel we obtain everything. So to share the Gospel is to Love in the most deepest and sacrificial way. Yet most times we don’t, because we don’t think of it like that. We are afraid of sharing it to someone we care for that is a non-believer because we fear their rejection, as if their rejection of us will be the end of the possibility of them hearing the Gospel. We think we are loving them by shirking around the truth, trying to be respectful of their beliefs and culture and attitude towards religion, but in the end, we are helping them move away from God, instead of moving them nearer the source of all Love and good in this world. I am also subjected to this foolishness too. I’m afraid of sharing the Gospel to my non-believer friends and one reason is probably because I don’t love them enough. I don’t really care for their salvation. That is probably the biggest reason, along with fear.

That is why it is also important to share our lives “as well.” Because if our lives are a living testimony of God’s mercy, grace, and caring, then these non-believer friends will see that. They will see the earnestness in living out the Gospel. They will be drawn to the unexplainable joy we have (and joy by definition of the Bible comes from the Holy Spirit and at the dawn of accepting Christ, and thus is unobtainable by normal human means to non-believers). We all have the universal aching of emptiness inside, and always looking at others to see how they cope with it. Let us Christians be the people whom others look at and say “they have successfully filled the emptiness in their hearts and are content, even beyond contentment, they have joy and jubilation.” Let non-believers say that about us, despite their ingrain teaching and beliefs that religion is stupid, because the Truth will break down these worldly and philosophical barriers. Let non-believers say that it is impossible to live a “better” or “richer” or “real” life than a Christian who hungers after being Christ-like.

Sharing our lives is also paramount in becoming unified in the Body. How can we be with one another and not try to share our lives? How can we encourage one another, build one another up, care and love for one another, and exemplify God’s love in our daily living and not share our lives with one another? Why do we fear? Are we to judge one another the way pagans do? Are we as the Body that petty to one another, mocking each other for our pasts and lack of certain gifts? Are we self-righteous and prideful like the pharisees?

This year I have resolved to try to share my life more to my brothers and sisters, as well as share to my non-believing friends why I am a Christian and why do I follow an all-powerful and selfish God. He is selfish, but He has every right to. But back to sharing with the Body. I have always been someone quick to listen, but with a distrustful nature and a painful past, been someone who is also quick to say “secret” when others ask of my life. Again, it comes with betrayal, abandonment, and the pangs of pity from my past. But even so, this is no excuse to avoid sharing with my current brothers and sisters. It is no excuse to let my pain and past restrict the possibilities of my future, especially if they are God’s will and calling. To share is to be trusting and intimate, and this fosters fellowship. Without trust, relationships and fellowship will hit a barrier eventually, and the depth of Love that we are called to have with one another won’t be fulfilled. So let me be brave and continue to share, as sharing opens up the risk of being hurt, but also the reward of finding genuine fellowship and community. Let me share like how I did in summer cell group and in prayer meeting, that I show at least my fellow brothers that God and the Church are more real than anything else.