To move towards loving one another…we must move away from false definitions of love and let love be defined by the death of Christ. Human love is selfish…it desires something in return and has strings attached. But if we look at this verse, we see that we had nothing to do with the unconditional love God showed to us by sending Jesus to die for our sins. In fact, it says that God loved us before we even knew anything about Him…while we were still rebelling against anything Godly, it says, He still loved us. So to love one another as Christ loved us, our love must be as limitless and absolute as His…as selfless and merciful as the Cross.
Tag: sinful world
Psalm 97: 10 ” Let those who love the Lord hate evil for He guards the lives of His faithful ones and delivers them from the hand of the wicked.”
It tells us here, if you love God – you hate sin. There’s no middle ground or compromise for this statement either. If Jesus is living inside of you, sin and wickedness should evoke within you a strong aversion and loathing. If sin of any type is still enticing, tempting, and luring you…even if you don’t act on it…I pray that you confess this captivation and ask for forgiveness. For our God is not only able to rescue you from the hand of the oppressor, but give you peace.
Jude 22 ” Be merciful to those who doubt; snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy, mixed with fear – hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.”
In the “politically correct” environment we live in it’s far too easy to condone and excuse away sin. We’d rather look away or justify than confront. But confrontation is exactly what this Scripture talks about. We are to love the sinner, but hate the sin…we are to challenge with love and mercy, but also make absolutely plain the consequences to come.
II Corinthians 5:21 ” God made Him Who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.”
I find it fascinating how people rationalize and marginalize their sins away. We’ll blame everyone else in order not to place the guilt where it belongs…on ourselves. “The devil made me do it!” doesn’t stand up well in light of such scriptures as Hebrews 4:15 which states that Jesus was tempted in every way, just as we are – yet was without sin. Taking ownership of our sins is the first step to getting right with God…as is conceding that a sin is a sin – there is no scale from 1-10 of severity of sins…so there’s no difference between a “little white lie” and a serious sin…both are missing the mark.
Mark 11:25 ” And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive your sins.”
The concept in this Scripture is very clear…forgive so that you may be forgiven. So why yet do we find so much pleasure in holding onto grudges? What starts out as a simple miscommunication or disagreement, morphs into something with a life all its own. Anger simmers, and shifts into resentment…frustration stews over how we’ve been wronged, and slowly changes into spite and hard feelings. Holding grudges only harm ourselves…they allow the root of bitterness to take hold and flourish within…and they prevent God from working fully in our lives.
House Rules – If you drop it…pick it up.
When you’re taken down by sin, you have two choices before you. One is to succumb and give in, beating yourself up and telling yourself how bad you are and that you’ll never amount to anything. The other is to get up and ask the Lord what you can learn from that mistake. Don’t wallow in the guilt and shame any longer, lean on God…for He will sustain and strengthen you and raise you up out of the mud and mire. For it says in Psalm 145:14, “The Lord upholds all those who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down.”
House Rules – If you can write in it…dust it.
Psalm 38:18 says, ” I confess my iniquity; I am troubled by my sin.” We need to be grieved by our disobedience, but sometimes our sin is obvious to everyone else, but us. We see it as something well hidden, when in actuality, its conspicuous to all others. Self-awareness must be the starting point of our journey with God.
House Rules – If its dirty…wash it.
Psalm 51:2 states, “Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.” The meaning of sin in this verse is habitual sinfulness…the kind of wrongdoing that takes over in a slow, gradual way until we’re so accustomed to it, we can’t see a way out. When this type of ingrained, continual sin is allowed to fester and grow, it can only lead to serious consequences such as depression and suicidal thoughts. Habitual sin can be overcome, but we have to first own up to it. I John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” If you have a habit that has ownership over you today…confess it to the Lord and allow Him to cleanse you from that guilt and shame.
Habakkuk 2:18 ” Of what value is an idol, since a man has carved it? “
So many times our humanness gets in the way of a right relationship with the Lord. In a twisted form of arrogance, we place our wretched past up on a pedestal and proclaim it to be “too terrible” for the Lord to forgive. Yes, your past may be riddled with bad choices…but nothing God hasn’t forgiven beforehand. Murder, adultery, rape…the list goes on in the Bible of deplorable actions done by people in difficult situations. But when they took responsibility for their sins and asked forgiveness…God forgave them. For there’s nothing so serious, so vile, that God’s redemptive power can’t forgive.
Romans 6:23 ” For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. “
If we live a sinful life, in the end, our compensation for all that evil will be death and eternal separation from God. But if we accept the gift of salvation offered to us by Jesus Christ, we are redeemed by way of His death and resurrection. That free gift of Salvation isn’t something we can ever begin to pay for…for Jesus has already paid the price for us.
Safetypinlove 