"Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another."
Today's lesson is a very powerful one. It is also a lesson that has been more and more overlooked, or simply ignored, by those who make up much of today's Christian Churches.
Herein, Paul straightforwardly instructed the Galatian Christians to care for the spiritual needs of their brothers and sisters who might be struggling with real intent of the gospel message. They were to help them by whatever means possible. Paul said, "Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ."That message applies equally to modern Christians.
If we set ourselves apart as special while sitting on our faith and doing nothing, like so many smugly do today, we become what our efforts reflect us to be, nothing.
Our work on earth is simple and demands very little of us, it is summed up by the two "great" commandments that Jesus left with us: "And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these."
When it comes to our duty to preach and teach the gospel of Jesus Christ, if we simply apply the second great commandment, our priority will become the spreading of the news of the amazing grace of God through Jesus Christ our Lord.~
No comments:
Post a Comment