We know that as Christians,
there is a lot that is required of us. We know that we are to love
God, love others, give generously, be caring, be kind, and on and on
and on. There is a long and beautiful list of character traits and
behavioral markers that are supposed to accompany the Christian life.
Maybe you know one of those great older men and women of God, the
ones who you see in church every Sunday and who just seem to ooze
godliness? How do those people get that way? Were they just born
perfect? Obviously not. We know that no human has ever been born
perfect (aside from Christ) but it can be hard to imagine one of
these older saints as ever having been like, well, the rest of us.
I know in my own life I'm
burdened by a few things that are hard for me to get past. I did not
have many friends growing up and some of the few that I had left me
in rather unkind ways. I've developed a very insular personality
that tends to exclude others and not rely on people. This extends to
the level of not caring much for other people and finding it
difficult to care much at all for people who aren't in my immediate
circles. I'm sure many of you have similar issues. Maybe you have a
rough manner of speech or are overly cynical or perhaps you're
naturally lazy; all of these and more are things that we know we
should work on, but how do we do that?
Let's go even farther. We
are commanded to love God and love others, right? How does that
work? Does God expect us to just summon up some lovin' and spread it
around? I've known people who have a hard time loving their family
members let alone total strangers! And loving God? Now that's a
hard concept! I mean sure, it's easy to be grateful to God or even
to fear God, but how do you 'love' someone who is so different than
you and is in fact the all powerful creator and sustainer of all
existence?
The answer lies in
understanding that God is not just the prescriber of our laws but
their fulfillment as well. He not only gives us commands but
empowers us to obey those commands. If we know that we are not
naturally loving or careful or kind, then we have to ask God for that
change. You will find -I promise- that as you pray and seek God in
His word and ask for His help, you will notice change in your life!
Oddly enough the same goes for loving God. The Bible tells us that
we are all naturally “God-haters”, lovers of self, and
rebellious. If we want to truly love God and others, we need to ask
God for that love that we can then give away. It may seem weird or
even insulting to ask God for help in loving Him but how else do we
get anything that we need if not by His providence? God wants us to
ask for His help in the things He has commanded us to do; He loves to
show us that He is who He says He is!
We can get pretty upset
when we don't measure up to the Bible (which, may I remind you, is
always.) It can seem self defeating and hopeless, an impossible
pursuit. As long as we live it will be difficult and I will be the
first to say that there will be hard times, but how could we expect
to fulfill His commands on our own when we can't even breathe without
God's intervention? Go to God in prayer and ask for Him to give you
love for Himself. Ask for a love for others or for a cleaner mouth
or a softer heart or a more dedicated spirit. Ask Him for the things
that you need for you will find them no where else.
“And
whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments
and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. And this is His
commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus
Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment.”
(1
John 3:22-23)
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