Tag Archives: love

Harmony In The Household

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HARMONY IN THE HOUSEHOLD

Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands, as fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them. Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged. Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to curry their favour, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord (Col. 3: 18-22).

‘As members of one body you were called to peace.’ This was Paul’s conviction about life in the body of Christ. Peace is only achieved when each individual submits to a collective will and is more concerned for the well-being of the others than for himself.

Likewise, in the family, harmony can only come about in the atmosphere of mutual submission. However, someone has to initiate the harmony that should characterise a household that represents the body of Christ. In Paul’s book, the person to initiate the harmony is the one in charge – the husband and father of the family.

Why must wives submit to their husbands? Is he the boss? Does he have the right to call the shots and expect everyone to jump? Not according to Paul. He expanded on his prescription for a harmonious household in his letter to the Ephesian church. The pivot around which everything turns is the husband’s love for his wife. He is to love his wife as Jesus loved the church.

Of course, that does not mean that Jesus sat in an arm chair and ordered His followers around. Quite the contrary! He loved His ‘bride’ enough to give His life for her. Jesus modelled a servant heart during His earthly life. This was His take:

For even the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many (Mark 10: 45).

It is far easier to submit to someone who has a servant heart than a person who lords it over others. A true husband and father is one who serves his family rather than one who rules with an iron fist.

How difficult is it for a wife to submit to a husband who loves her and shows his love by taking care of her needs? This is the essence of true love – meeting the needs of others at one’s own expense. Love is the oil that keeps the household functioning smoothly. If selfishness rules rather than love, the atmosphere will quickly become toxic as each one strives to get his own way.

What about children? Obedience is God’s first and only requirement for children in a family. Once again, however, God does not demand blind obedience because that would contribute nothing towards creating a family unit. Fathers must initiate the environment in which it is easy for children to obey their parents. Commands that reflect a father’s capricious demands produce rebellion, not compliance and fracture that love that holds the family together.

How do slaves (or servants) fit into the household? Are they part of it or are they just cogs in a machine? What part do they play in the life of a family? In this family, which Paul sees as representing a Christ-controlled family, the servants play an important part. They are as much a part of serving one another as the husband, wife and children are, but even more so. Their serving is not voluntary but obligatory. What counts is why they do it and the way they do it.

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. Anyone who does wrong will be paid for their wrongs, and there is no favouritism (Col. 3: 23-25).

How sad that believers are often no better than unbelievers in the world of work and business! What a witness for Jesus when they do their work as unto the Lord and with a heart of true worship!

Unity, in the end, is about submitting ourselves to one another and serving one another out of reverence for Christ, whether it be in the church, in the home or in the workplace. This is the only way in which society will ever really work.

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

 

Christ, The Mystery of God

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CHRIST, THE MYSTERY OF GOD

I want you to know how hard I am contending for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not known me personally. My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Colossians 2:1-3).

Paul was presenting deep truths to relatively young believers, using truths that many of us today do not understand. One wonders how much of what Paul wrote about made sense to them!

These were people who had not heard the message of the gospel from Paul. They had been taught by Epaphras who was probably Paul’s convert and possibly a Gentile who may have had no background in the Jewish Scriptures. Paul recognised that, although he was not a part of their conversion experience, nevertheless he had a responsibility to instruct them thoroughly in the faith. They had no New Testament to which to turn. They relied on what they had been taught and what they could remember.

What did Paul emphasise as the criteria for understanding the mystery of Christ? Not book knowledge, as we might think, but their being encouraged in heart and united in love. These are not qualities of the mind, but rather aspects of their experience as they learned to do life together. It was important for them to know the truth about Jesus and to be sure of what they believed. It was equally important that they live it out in their everyday lives.

It was in the experience of their daily lives ‘in Christ’ that they learned to know Him. They needed to be confident in Him and to draw their life from Him in a hostile environment where they could be betrayed, arrested and executed for their faith at any time. Head knowledge was not enough. They had to experience the sufficiency of Christ for everything they needed. Most of all, being believers in Jesus was about doing life together.

Those of us who are part of the culture of the western world need to learn from cultures that place emphasis on family groups above individuals. There are dangers in that, of course, especially when it comes to conversion from a traditional religion to faith in Christ. Since family takes precedence over the individual, to make a personal choice against the family is viewed in a serious light.

However, it is the family togetherness in Christ that helps believers to remain faithful and strong through the support they receive from one another. When one falls, the others are there to pick him up. When one strays, the others bring him back. Strife and conflict are handled within the family of believers to maintain harmony and promote love.

Imagine if our church groups functioned like that. It’s no wonder that the church in Paul’s day spread like wildfire in spite of persecution. Jesus said that it is by our love that people will know that we are His disciples and by our unity that the world will know that the Father sent Him.

It is this kind of life that will take us deeper into ‘the full riches of understanding’ of the mystery of Christ. The Israelites had a constitution which was intended to teach them how to live in harmony with one another. They lacked one thing – Jesus Christ. He is the full revelation of everything that the Mosaic Law was intended to teach them. They had the method, but not the means.

The Law of Moses was meant to teach them how impossible it was to live God’s way without Jesus. God wanted them to know how powerless they were to make it on their own. Even if they were able to obey God’s Law to the letter outwardly, they could do nothing to change their wayward hearts. Their sad history is proof that they did not understand the heart of God. Only a few of them got it, people like David who moved beyond keeping rules and offering sacrifices.

You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise (Psalm 51: 16-17).

Knowledge is important. Without it we have nothing upon which to base our faith. But knowledge that does not issue in obedience and a changed life has no value. We need to be encouraged in heart – urged on to become who we are – and united in love – taking care of one another and meeting one another’s needs at our own expense, in order to come to a true understanding of who Jesus really is. He is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, and the source of everything we are and everything we need.

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

 

Did Paul Get It Wrong?

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DID PAUL GET IT WRONG?

“It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. The latter do so out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defence of the gospel. The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains.

“But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice. Yes, and I will continue to rejoice.” Philippians 1:15-18.

What a man! It’s that old incorrigible spirit of Paul again!

Why should he not be moping in jail and bewailing his fate at because of terrible injustice? Instead he was whooping it up because, while his hands were tied, others had taken up where he left off and, in the meantime, he was equally at work among the Roman soldiers right inside Caesar’s palace.

The very fact that Paul was sitting in jail for the “crime” of preaching Jesus, was a matter of interest to the palace guard. He would have attracted no attention at all had he been incarcerated for criminal activities but for defending his message that a Jewish carpenter cum rabbi in far-off Israel claimed to be the Son of God, was executed for His claim at the insistence of the Jewish hierarchy and was then reputed to have risen from the dead, was enough to arouse their curiosity.

On top of that, the man who was teaching these things, and those who followed this Nazarene, were unusual people. They rejoiced and celebrated instead of resisting when they were arrested, imprisoned and even executed for refusing to bow to Caesar as Lord. How could they when they knew it was a false claim? Not even the threat of death deterred them from their confidence that this Jesus was who He said He was, not even to save their skin!

In every other way they were model citizens. They stuck together in small groups. They were loving, caring and unselfish, sharing their food and possessions when they were denied access to the markets because they would not bow to Caesar. Belief in Jesus had spread like wildfire across the empire and no amount of persecution or attempts to exterminate them had deterred them. In fact, it seemed to be a powerful motivation for others to join.

 

Paul was not disheartened by the opposition. That there were people who were trying to make it harder for him in jail by preaching Christ, did not deter him. Imagine that! Using Jesus as a way of getting at Paul! What could be more despicable than that? Yet Paul knew that the message, preached for whatever reason, had the power to transform lives. While there were those who had wrong motives, others took up the baton and ran with it so that the gospel would be proclaimed everywhere, even if Paul were confined to jail.

It is tragic that there are many motives for preaching Jesus Christ today, even as in Paul’s day. Human nature has not changed. Money, as always is the biggest draw card. Some even speak of Jesus as a good “product” to sell. I wonder what He thinks about that! The most heinous motive of all is to make money out of Him.

There are popular preachers today who are rolling in it because of God’s “blessing” on their lives. They hold huge conferences to which thousands of people flock; they preach fervently that God wants them all rich; they sell their books and DVDs, garner huge royalties and revel in God’s favour. They live in million-dollar mansions, and give away ten percent of their income. They take from those who attend their conferences and attribute it to God’s “favour”.

This is the message they export to the world, even to those who live in poverty in third-world countries. What must their listeners think when it doesn’t happen? What about those who are losing their homes, their possessions, their families and even their lives because they follow Jesus? What about believers who are being beheaded in the Middle East even now because they love the Lord and refuse to become Muslim? Are they under God’s curse? What about Paul? What did he have to say?

“Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” 1 Timothy 6:9, 10.

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

 

One In The Bond Of Love

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ONE IN THE BOND OF LOVE

“It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart and, whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me. God can testify how I long for you with the affection of Christ Jesus. And this is my prayer; that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness through Jesus Christ – to the glory and praise of God.” Philippians 1:7-11.

That’s quite a mouthful, Paul!

Paul made some powerful statements in his greeting to the Philippian church. He obviously had great affection for these people. They were his first converts in Greece. They loved him; they supported him in every possible way; unlike the Galatian church, they were steadfast in their faith in Jesus and they brought great joy to Paul. He could not help but tell them how much they meant to him in the midst of the trials and persecution he faced. At that very moment he was in prison for the gospel of Christ.

Paul thought about them constantly, as he did the many other small groups scattered all over Europe and Asia who had come to Christ through his preaching and teaching. In spite of his apostolic role, he didn’t lord it over them. They had an equal share in God’s grace with him. He needed grace to endure the suffering and humiliation of persecution and imprisonment for preaching the gospel. They needed grace to be faithful to Jesus in the face of opposition, accusation and misunderstanding and the ever-present danger of betrayal to the authorities, even by friends or family.

God’s grace was very real to Paul. On one occasion he was so traumatised by constant persecution that he pleaded with God to remove the “thorn” of angry persecutors that dogged him wherever he went and the hardships he faced as a travelling apostle. God’s response was not to remove the thorn but to give him strength and grace to endure. The same grace that supported him was available to every Philippian child of God for their daily struggles.

Paul’s written prayers give us deep insight into true prayer. He was more concerned about forming their godly characters than he was about their outward circumstances. As long as they were in this life they would face trouble. It was not his place to pray them out of it, since God was using the very adversities they faced to mould them into the image of Christ. In his prayers he affirmed God’s purpose to grow them in righteousness and godliness as a witness to His grace and power in the face of human wickedness in the society around them.

His greeting was “grace and peace,” his prayer for the increase of love and the fruit of righteousness so that their lives would be blameless, not sinless, and pure, not mixed with the ungodly practices of the pagans all around them. Their righteousness was the outflow of Christ’s righteousness which covered them as they lived in a sinful world, surrounded by pressure and temptation to conform in order to evade the inevitable suffering for Jesus’ sake.

Why the increase of love? Love is the very essence of who God is. His love motivates and permeates His every thought and action. Everything He does is for our good and He spares nothing, not even His own Son, to ensure our rescue and our freedom from the ravages of sin. The love of God that motivates us, heals and restores us as much as it ministers to others. The more we love, the greater our resemblance to our heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus.

The more we give of ourselves and our resources to meet the needs of others, the more we grow in our understanding of what the right thing is to do in every circumstance. What better desire could Paul express for these dear people who meant so much to him? They were an oasis in the desert of idolatry and wickedness. They were a breath of fresh air in the putrid atmosphere of ungodliness. They were a fountain of living water springing up out of the barren earth.

We can learn from Paul to view life from a different perspective. God is about changing hearts, not circumstances. The very struggles we hate are the things God uses to refine our faith and purify our hearts of our fleshly and selfish appetites so that we can feast on Him and become like Him to shine in the darkness of sin and unbelief.

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

 

 

 

The Fruit Of The Root

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THE FRUIT OF THE ROOT

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

“Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying one another.”  Galatians 5:22-25.

Thankfully there is a counterpart to the nasty evidences of our corrupt hearts. Since Jesus came to take away sin, so said the Apostle John, it is possible for us to live sin-free lives. That does not mean that we are perfect. Far from it; but it does mean that we are not locked into a sinful lifestyle because we are powerless to do otherwise.

With the Holy Spirit resident in us, He changes us, slowly but surely into the Image of Jesus. In contrast to the “acts of the flesh”, which focus on the symptoms of corrupt hearts, Paul lists the work of the Spirit in us as “fruit”. What is the difference?

Jesus used the imagery of the vine and the branches. What do the branches need to do to bear grapes? Nothing. They simple remain attached to the vine. Anything that causes the branch to become detached will kill it. It will have to be pruned off because it has become useless.

What do we need to do to become fruitful? Nothing except to remain in the vine. Jesus even tells us how to remain in Him.

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me, and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing…If you remain in me, and my words remain in you, ask what you wish, and it will be done for you…As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in His love.” John 15:5, 7, 9.

Keeping His commandments is the key to remaining in Jesus. But, you may object, isn’t that exactly what Paul said we don’t have to do – to obey the law? Isn’t it the same thing? Not at all. There is a great deal of difference between keeping the law in order to become righteous and keeping Jesus’ commands because we are already righteous.

If we are trying to become righteous by obeying the law, we have failed before we even start. We cannot change the imperfect to the perfect by our own effort because we still have the problem of guilt for our past sin even if we could be perfect from now on. There is a debt to pay and we can do nothing to pay it. God cannot overlook sin because He is a just God. He must deal with transgression of the law.

On the other hand, if someone else pays our debt to God and we are justified and set free from sin’s penalty, we are now indebted to our benefactor. Out of gratitude to Him and love for Him, we do what He instructs us because that is how love is expressed. Love is not love if we go on living the old way. Real love values what Jesus values and hates what He hates. Real love identifies so closely with Jesus that we become one with Him in what He desires.

The law was intended to show us what God is like and to teach us how to be like Him. It didn’t work because all the law did was to provoke to action the rebellion in our sinful natures. Jesus got rid of the law as a requirement for righteousness by fulfilling it for us and then removing the root of sin in our hearts. He replaced it with His own nature – the nature of a son who lives in loving submission and obedience to to the Father, and restored His Spirit to us.

“Now,” said Paul, “you are free to love Him and to follow the Holy Spirit’s leading because you old nature has been put to death.” Your life in union with Jesus will produce the fruit of the root; love, joy, peace – the outflow of your restored relationship with God; patience, kindness, goodness – your attitude to other people; faithfulness, meekness and self-control – your attitude towards yourself.

What is your root? Is it Jesus or is the old selfish nature still in charge?

Acknowledgement

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.