Today’s
scripture:
“Do not let your adornment be
merely outward - arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel -
rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty
of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.” (1
Peter 3:3-4)
Today we are looking into the eighth topic on the
Sermon on the Mount that Jesus is teaching, which is “Nonresistance”. In
Matthew 5:38-42, Jesus says not to take matters into your own hands but to
empty the pride in you and give yourself and show love with meekness and
humility.
“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an
eye and a tooth for a tooth.” (Matthew 5:38) Oh, how quick we are to seek
revenge when we are being wronged. This is one area I struggle with, especially
with those who are closest to me. Actually, this verse came from Exodus 21:24,
which was meant to be a way for the judge to determine justice when a crime was
committed. Jesus explains that it’s not for us to seek revenge. He desires
mercy and restoration. He wants us to have a spirit of meekness, which takes us
back to the Beatitudes… “Blessed are
the meek, For they shall inherit the earth.” (Matthew 5:5)
Of course, Jesus is talking more about theft and
violence, or is He? See, the real point here is if He is saying we need to act
with meekness, humility, gentleness and love even with the most difficult
people, how much more with people who are close to us and we deal with every
day? Truthfully, sometimes I find it harder to let these fruits of the Spirit
show with people I’m closest to than people who have really done me harm. My
sister’s husband murdered her with an AK-47 assault rifle in 2011, and minutes
after finding out I started to pray for him. But sometimes when my wife and I
get into it, all the sudden it becomes very hard to show meekness. Meekness is
humility, dyeing to your own way of things and loving instead.
Have you ever been in an argument and so sure that you
are right? I mean, you have no doubt in your mind and you can prove it. You may
feel your so right that you will drive home your point of view even if it means
having the argument escalate to the point of a screaming match. But after all,
you’re right…Right?
Well, It can be so easy for me to go down that road
of trying to prove I’m right. If it gets to that point, YOU ARE WRONG! You are
wrong because you have not humbled yourself to do what is more important than
proving you’re right, and that is to “die to self” and win them with
meekness, gentleness… LOVE! Have faith God knows all things and He will handle
the situation justly and rightly, but in the meantime, we need to show love and
give ourselves through meekness.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 NLT – “Love is
patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not
demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being
wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth
wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and
endures through every circumstance.
The one part that so much sticks out to me in this
passage is v.5 “It does not demand it’s own way”! That word
demand carries some weight to it. It reeks of pride! What this is saying is
that love does not say, “I deserve this”, or “I’m entitled to this”, or
“I have rights”. Once you gave your life to Christ, you gave up all your
rights! You are not your own anymore because you belong to Christ. If you
belong to the Prince Of Peace, who is lowly and meek, you have it in you to do
the same, and He requires it. He commands it.
Notice at the end of this passage… “Love…endures
through every circumstance.” Through EVERY circumstance??? YES! Even
in the middle of an all-out-raging-war of ridicule, violence, condemnation,
etc. What is love anyway? Well, it says love is patient and kind and rejoices
in truth and it never fails! So, if you have love then you will show meekness
and humility in the most difficult situations.
Reflection:
This needs an attitude of humility. Beloved, anger and wanting our own way is probably one of the
toughest things you will fight against. But we MUST do it! We must LOVE with MERCY!
We must die to self. We need to pick that “old
man” up by the back of the neck, shake him up and crucify him because he
brings no good fruit. He only brings jealously and he is boastful, proud, and rude.
He demands his own way. He is irritable, and he keeps records of being wronged,
and rejoices about injustice.
Challenge:
We
all need to learn more about love, especially the kind of love 1 Corinthians
talks about which is “agape” love.
For this next week, memorize 1 Corinthians 13:4-8. Don’t just memorize, but put
it into practice. I guarantee you will have some opportunities to pull that
scripture out in those tough moments and DO what it says. How can you show
patience? How can you show kindness? In other words, how can you “die to self”?
Figure that out and do it!
-Doug McGowan
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