This morning I had the opportunity to wake up slowly, enjoy a cup of coffee, look over some old journal entires, and read my Bible - which hasn't been very high on the agenda for awhile. The couple chapters I read in 1 Thessalonians got me thinking about the fairly constant question I have about what our interactions with others are to look like in light of Christ.
For as long as I can really remember, people have been an easy idol for me - meaning that they can quickly become a "god" in my life, or something that I look to in order to satisfy the deep longings of my heart. I've heard various versions of the phrase I believe J.D. Greear says, "No person is created to carry the weight of another human soul." Even as he places this in light of marriage, the same is true of any other relationship.
I also cracked the cover of Ed Welch's book, Side by Side, today. In his introduction he says, "We were meant to walk side by side, an interdependent body of weak people. God is pleased to grow and change us through the help of people who have been re-created in Christ and empowered by the Spirit. That is how life in the church works."
I often find myself wavering between giving people too much weight in my heart and then beating myself up for needing people and wanting community. This guilt is not from the Lord! He has created us as relational beings in need of Himself and others. Perhaps we can focus so much on our need for the Lord that we forget He created us for relationship with others. I know my heart found much healing and freedom last year while sitting in class and hearing that God created us to need people before the Fall and that if you aren't affected by people in your life, then perhaps you aren't doing life right.
Anyway, back to what I was reading in 1 Thessalonians this morning. 1 Thessalonians 3:12-13 says, "...and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you, so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints." This, in turn, made me think of 1 Peter 1:22, "Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart...."
This second verse has always been intriguing to me, but also has held a level of confusion. How can our souls be purified by loving one another? But this morning I experienced a growing knowledge of the Lord's grace as I realized, His command to us is that we would love one another. Jesus also said that we would be known as His by our love for one another.
There is a deep connection between loving God, loving others, and being sanctified.
I know that in my life, the times I have most felt the Lord's presence have often been in times of loving others selflessly. My love is marred, because I am human, but the Lord's grace is bigger than my sin. And life is less black-and-white than I used to believe, at least in the sense that our sin is always on the table. The Lord's grace and blessing have not been removed because my selfishness, idolatry, or pride are intertwined with my love, grace, and service. Otherwise I would never experience the Lord's grace and blessing.
It's because HE is faithful. He is never changing. He is always with me. His grace is sufficient, and His power is made known in my weakness.
I am changed in the face of love...knowing that I love BECAUSE I've been loved. And His unconditional love, both to and through me, can't leave me unchanged.
