FAITH CAPSULE: Live life to be pleasing God and He will lift you up.
John 15
We do not please self to please God but to please God to please us. Obedient to the word of God is to please God while disobedient is pleasing self in seeking God. Do you LOVE as commanded by God? Today, man does have ways of loving but not the way God wants man to love.
Jesus was speaking in Luke 6:27, “But I say to you who hear; love your enemies, do good to those who hate you.” Jesus was not talking about speaking love to one another, but He was instructing and teaching on love as the only way to the fulfillment of God’s command. It is easy to talk love than actually demonstrating it, especially to a stranger or the neediest. Absolutely nothing can be done to substitute love, and that is why Jesus emphasized on His message of love so as to be heard. Undeniably, to love is to obey God and to obey God is to love. God is love. He sent His only begotten son because He loves us. Just as it is among the unbelievers, there are also believers that go around with a diary of grudges and bitterness. In entering the church, they are the ones who praise the loudest. Indeed, it is good to worship God, but worshiping God in emptiness is worthless and does not amount to power. It is written in 1 John 2:9-10, “He, who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now. He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him.”
God is not a fool, neither is He a God who does not hear or see. God has given His word and He has fulfilled His salvation plans for us. It is now left for man to turn unto God and obey all that He has commanded. He knows when love is not genuine and sincere. Loving has to be in God’s own way. The book of 1Timothy 1:5 stated, “Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith.” Love is what Christianity is all about. Often, believers have walked away where love needs to be demonstrated. Love can never be harmful especially when it is demonstrated with a good conscience and sincere faith. Romans 13:10 says, “Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.” It is clearly demonstrated that the diary of bitterness, anger, and animosity will not prevail; it will only unveil the owner of the diary to eternal damnation. Also, it will only take the grace of God to live a life of loving others. It is possible to please God by doing His word as commanded.
Prayer for today: Ask God for His grace to be pleasing God in your ways of life He has given you.