Week 25 of 52 Faith is Loving the Unlovable because God first Loved Us

Faith is loving the unlovable because God first loved us - Lord increase our faith

If it seems like I am repeating myself, you may be right. The topic of Love and the various ways of looking at it (loving God, loving our neighbor and loving our enemy) cannot be stressed enough in the Christian walk. We are to be walking talking examples of Christ; especially in our love.

Jesus talked to and encouraged those people who most Jews would reject or avoid. He talked to the Roman occupiers (and called a Roman Centurion a man of great faith), to lepers, to blind people to a Samaritan woman (a double whammy because both Samaritans and women were to be avoided by Jewish men). He partied with tax collectors (basically Roman sympathizers and traitors) and other sinners. He visited the poor and the rich. There was no one that Jesus wouldn't talk to. He showed compassion for the downtrodden and those rejected by Jewish society and he gave to super religious a tongue lashing.

In his Sermon on the Mount recorded in the Gospel of Matthew, he said a very disturbing thing. He said, "For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax-collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?" In other words being nice to those who are nice to you has no special value in the Kingdom of God. Jesus is challenging us to love those who are unlovable. In a sense, He is saying, " This is the kind of love that matters."

We cannot do this in and of ourselves. We need to Love of God, Jesus' example and the power of the Holy Spirit to do this. God loves us, He demonstrated that in Jesus' death on the cross and He has given us His Holy Spirit so that we might live the life He lived. So I encourage you to look for those people that are difficult to love: in the workplace, the marketplace and even in your family, and love them the way Christ would. Invite Jesus into that moment and see what He can do through you.

Lord, you demonstrated Godly love in loving the unloved of your time. Lord,
help us to love the unlovely with your Love demonstrating the power of you Love in faith - Lord, increase our faith.

Week 13 of 52 Prayers Faith is knowing that God is more interested in our character than in our comfort

Faith is knowing that God is more interested in our character than in our comfort - Lord, increase our faith

At the end of the Beatitudes Jesus said that blessed (which really means happy) are we when people revile us and persecute us and say all kinds of horrible things about us for His Name's sake, He goes on to say, "Rejoice and be glad for your reward is great in heaven"

That may seem strange to us. We want to be liked and found acceptable, yet if we are to be counted as Kingdom citizens we have to accept that the world may not like us, in fact they may revile us. That is uncomfortable for anyone. But Christ is more interested in the state of our heart than in the condition of our bodies or our reputation in the world, but we are encouraged that their will be rewards for our diligence through persecution.

The Apostle James goes on to say that we should "count it all joy" when we are faced with various trials because we know that the testing of our faith produces steadfastness, which in turn leads us to perfection in our faith. This is character building; becoming more like our Savior as we experience some of what He did.

That is Christ's real goal - our complete redemption and maturity in the faith. If that requires that we have to made uncomfortable so that we can be more like Him, then that is okay. We need to embrace all that our life in Christ requires of us if we are to live up to His good plans for us. He doesn't expect us to do it all in our own strength. He has give us is Holy Spirit that we might live life to the full as He uses our trials to transform us more and more into his Image.

Lord, we know that you are more interested our becoming like You than in our personal comfort - Lord increase our faith!