Tuesday February 10, 2009 LOVE COVERS
Unbelievers insult you now because they are surprised that you no longer join them in the same excesses of wild living. They will give an account to the one who is ready to judge the living and the dead. After all, the Good News was told to people like that, although they are now dead. It was told to them so that they could be judged like humans in their earthly lives and live like God in their spiritual lives. The end of everything is near. Therefore, practice self-control, and keep your minds clear so that you can pray. Above all, love each other warmly, because love covers many sins. 1 Peter 1:4-8 The mighty power Peter is speaking about is the power of God that cleanses us by the blood of Jesus Christ and makes us the children of God. It's hard to imagine that there was as much decadence around Christians at that time as there is now, but there was. People who worshiped idols often had orgies at the feet of those idols. Now, that to me is true decadence. The promise that we are not compelled to live out the desires of the flesh is beautiful. As we know God better, and apply faith to His principles, we attain moral excellence; an excellence that grows us into deeper love and acceptance of our brothers and sisters in Christ; as well as the lost. It is then that we become a source of help for the hurting. Oswald Chambers often writes that we are to become as "broken bread and poured out wine" for the cause of Christ in the lives of others. My struggle with all of this has been to understand the difference between codependency and genuine service for Christ. I confess that I am a little slow to learn. Nevertheless, God is patient teaches me in spite of me. What I learned is that most codependent people are hungry to be accepted and all their work is done to be noticed by others and applauded. Genuine service through Christ for the benefit of others takes the spotlight off of ourselves and places it directly on Jesus! I'm slow, but I learn well. Henry J. M. Nouwen, in his book, Reaching Out, says, "Real training for service asks for a hard and often painful process of self-emptying. The main problem of service is to be the way without being in the way." We are to be the way to Christ, and not be in the way by pushing our ideas and beliefs off on others. Along that same thought, Oswald said today, "The process of being made broken break and poured-out wine means that you have to be the nourishment for other people's souls until they learn to feed on God." So, we need to have a close relationship with Christ that allows us to teach His ways, not our ways. The last verse of an old hymn says it beautifully, "Here am I, send me, Lord, Here am I, send me, Lord, Make my life useful to thee..." May your life be useful today! ******************************************* O. Addison Gethers e-mail address : [email protected] or [email protected] window live messenger: [email protected] aim: durangoadd64 skype: cowboys62 yahoo messenger: OADDISONGETHERS --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Deaf-Blind Inspirational Life Group" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/DBILG?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
