Remember, a faith based on feelings
is a very singular faith based on a very singular Gospel. If the Gospel you
believe in is not universal for all men, then it isn't the Gospel at all. Faith
is believing the Gospel is real, not that we feel it is real. Feeling and
knowing are two different things. We don't say "I know Jesus is real
because I got a feeling He is," we say we know Jesus because there is
testimony and evidence and transformation that points to Him being real. We
don't go up to our friends and say they are real to us because we feel them, we
say that because we built a relationship with them, and this is the same with
Jesus. Feelings then come into play in delighting in the fact we know Jesus and
He knows us.
The point of love is that it does
NOT come naturally. We are naturally self-seeking prideful individuals. Love asks
us to sacrifice, to put another above ourselves, to search deep for a strength
that doesn't belong to us. There is nothing humanly natural for someone to be
patient, to be kind, to be humble, to never get angry, to always trust, hope,
and persevere. Nothing at all. That is why love is profound, and most of the
world does not get it. They may understand the self-denial part, but will miss
the other part that there is inherently no love AT ALL in us.
Love is action. Love is hard work.
Love is utilizing energy from a source not of ourselves (or other people).
There are underlying laws governing
the behavior of man. One is that we function best when confined in a box, and
yet there is an underlying passion in the hearts of men to defy all established
laws and break out of that box. The irony is that it is a law in itself that we
desire to break laws. It’s our nature to be proud.
What are the two greatest
commandments in the Bible? Love God and love people. So if you believe and
trust in God's sovereignty and control for His kingdom, do you believe that
ministries that involve brothers and sisters being called to serve in
intellectual areas (doctors, lawyers, businessmen, professors), serving the
poor, or becoming fathers and mothers, and serving the local church, if these
ministries are done with a motivation of self-sacrificial love and in a
selfless manner following God's calling, don't these ministries have
equal if not greater importance than a ministry of missions in foreign
countries? Are these ministries not preaching the Gospel in a more glorifying
and Spirit-directed manner if they are truly under God's will? Remember what
the Gospel is before preaching it to others.
No comments:
Post a Comment