Meeting 2/7/20
It's been a tough week, full of challenges, and I can sense the toll it has taken. It was timely to take a stroll a bit further down the path of being conformed into the image of Christ. He led us deeper into the familiar passage contained within 1 Corinthians 13. No doubt, you may have heard this section of scripture quoted at a wedding, but I would propose that most young folks don't truly know what Paul is talking about here. The Holy Spirit prompted him to drop a major bomb right in the middle of his letter to this church. It really does stand out in this book as a special passage. If one is a bit foggy about how the Christian life should look, this is it. If one asks how they are measuring up, this is it. If one wants an outline of fruit the Lord is producing in their life, this is it. It is powerful, provocative, and quite convicting. I've substituted God's name for Love in each line. I've substituted my own name, as well. Oh boy! But today, we take a hard look at this section through the lenses of being conformed into His image.
"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices weith the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails." 1 Cor. 13: 4-8.
So, we will look at a couple of key points today. The first involves memory and requires a step backwards in time to Deuteronomy 6:12. "Be careful that you do not forget the Lord, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery." Please read Deut. 6 often, in its entirety. It's a huge iconic chapter for us. If we are to truly aim to love the Lord, we have to remember the main things! I had a good laugh with my brother over the fact that I trail off quickly when reciting 1 Cor. 13. "Love is patient, love is kind..." Uh.... That's all I can remember! It's proof that we need to deliberately stay in the Word so that the Word can stay in us. Oh, how quickly I forget what I read. Every day is a frustration, as the daily reading fades from my memory. I hope you can relate, so I am not alone in this struggle. I really do want to remember, but the day's demands are effective to render me with daily amnesia. If I'm not careful, that can become a trend very quickly. I am aware of the devil's schemes. One day can turn into two, and the next thing you know, you've been starved of the Word for too long. So, in Deut. 6, we find that the Lord understands our weakness as humans. He even directs us to write His Word down in likely places that we may be reminded! Point #1: be strong in memory.
Point #2: Love is tough. Teenagers flippantly say they love someone. They also say they love tater tots. They don't know what true love is or what it requires. And surely as newlyweds stand at the altar, if they can even focus on what the preacher is saying during that blurry time, they also don't understand what it takes to truly love. In the 1Cor. passage, verse 11 says, "When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me." Love is tough and difficult to do. I'm not talking about tough love, where you boldly speak the truth to someone. I'm talking about really loving as God calls us to love. It takes a maturity that can handle the true difficulty involved in genuine love.
Good news! We are not without hope! Sure, this report card will prove that we fail many times over, but with the power of the Holy Spirit, and cooperating with His conforming us into His image, we can indeed have some victories as well. By His grace, He will allow us to see fruit in our lives regarding love. Praise God, there will be times we actually love the way He wants us to! Our best days are yet to come friends. "For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known." 1Cor. 13:12. There is coming a day where we are made complete in love. We will love perfectly, just as He intended. Until then, our flesh will continue to struggle as we daily surrender and cooperate with the process of being conformed into His image, by His grace.
