\u201cI\u2019m going to be a Power Ranger when I grow up!\u201d declared our four-year-old granddaughter. \u201cYou can be anything you want to be,\u201d assured her dad.<\/p>\n
She then reversed his earlier question. \u201cDaddy, what do you want to be when you grow up?\u201dCaught somewhat off guard, he responded that he was already grown, with a family and a growing business of his own. After duly considering this, our granddaughter asked, \u201cBut Daddy, what did you forget to be?\u201d<\/p>\n
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Our heavenly Father might want to ask a similar question. We might claim to be following in the light and truth of the gospel, but fail miserably to do so. Sometimes our actions don\u2019t quite measure up to our commitment because we\u2019ve forgotten how to love our fellow believers. Satan, the father of lies and author of confusion, delights in filling our minds with complaints, dragging us down into the \u201cpoor me\u201d syndrome.<\/p>\n
Jesus provides the antidote for this: \u201cAgain, a new commandment I write to you, which thing is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining\u201d (1\u202fJohn 2:8). When we leave the darkness of sin behind, we are to walk in Christ, the Light of the world. Obedience cannot be left behind, for in our keeping His commandments, God\u2019s love is perfected in us (v. 5). Many of the Jews continued in darkness, refusing to permit the light of the gospel to shine upon them. We may find ourselves groping for light but walking in that darkness when we fail to extend God\u2019s love to our brothers (v. 11).<\/p>\n
What inspires us to act, to serve, even as Christ served? Love, a motivational force that requires us to respond in kind. The Spirit\u2019s leading inspires us to action through love. Just as without faith it is impossible to please God, so without love it is impossible to fulfill His purpose for us. We may find ourselves on the fringe, not wanting to let go of that darkness entirely \u2014 one foot in, one foot out.<\/p>\n
Paul\u2019s admonition to the church at Corinth sends a message to us all. We may do good deeds, have successful careers, quote scriptures, understand the prophets and their message, and master multiple languages. But all of these accomplishments are nothing without love (1\u202fCorinthians 13).<\/p>\n
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It\u2019s impossible to be a vibrant 21st<\/sup> century church without having vibrant 21st<\/sup> century Christians. When we walk in the light of love, we can truly function as a vibrant church, Christ centered, Spirit formed, and Bible based.<\/p>\n May we express gratitude to God for the benefits of His love, emulating that love in our relationships with others.<\/p>\n But how do<\/em> we love those individuals who tend to chafe, to push our buttons, to intrude in our personal space, and who are downright nasty toward us? Do we have a high-hattitude<\/em> toward them? Do we have a combattitude, <\/em>always looking for a fight or confrontation? Rather, we must view such people through the filter of the love of Jesus, who lifted the downtrodden, consoled the grieving, helped the weak, and relieved their suffering. Sibling rivalry should never be a part of our church families. Jesus operated with a servant attitude, and so should we, regarding the needs of others above our own.<\/p>\n The entire Bible is God\u2019s love story, and it\u2019s all about Jesus: His part in Creation; the Genesis 3:15 promise of a Savior-Messiah; the words of the prophets regarding the same; His coming, ministry, loving sacrifice, and future earthly reign as Lord. Christ is the Light of the world, but some people prefer the dark. Jesus said, \u201cAnd this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil\u201d (John 3:19).<\/p>\n The old commandment was obeyed from a legalistic standpoint \u2014 to the letter and with many added, man-made restrictions and traditions. Jesus gave us a new commandment, yet not new as it was the same as the old: two great commands \u2014 love God and love one another \u2014 now patterned after Jesus\u2019 love and administered through His Spirit (Matthew 22:34-40; John 13:34; 1\u202fJohn 3:11; Deuteronomy 6:5; Leviticus 19:18).<\/p>\n The first great commandment (love God) demands that we serve no other gods and make none either, that He be honored. We are to revere and remember His holy name and Sabbath. The other commands make reference to our relationships with others: love your neighbor, treat them right, and don\u2019t transgress against them. If we love our fellow man, we will in no wise slander, murder, violate, covet, or misuse them in any way. The new commandment is the old commandment redefined by love, motivated by love, enacted by love.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Do we consider ourselves to be \u201cgrown up\u201d Christians? Or has Satan crippled us, cutting our Spirit supply and replacing it with his lies of false doctrine, with combattitudes<\/em> instead of attitudes motivated by the love of God? Do we love enough to confront when necessary? Do we do so with a loving attitude, or speak with high-hattitudes <\/em>from our self-righteous perch on our self-appointed judgment bench?<\/p>\n What have we forgotten to be? To be like Jesus! Christ should be central to our existence. Everything we do should be focused on and approved by Him. Because God so loved this world, He left us the legacy of His written Word and the promise that His Son, the living Word, would return to claim us as His own for eternity.<\/p>\n May we not forget to be a vibrant 21st<\/sup> century church by being vibrant 21st<\/sup> century Christians in service to our Lord, motivated by God\u2019s great love.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cI\u2019m going to be a Power Ranger when I grow up!\u201d declared our four-year-old granddaughter. \u201cYou can be anything you want to be,\u201d assured her dad. She then reversed his earlier question. \u201cDaddy, what do you want to be when you grow up?\u201dCaught somewhat off guard, he responded that he was already grown, with a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":338,"featured_media":4142,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sync_status":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","castos_file_data":"","podmotor_file_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nRemembering Jesus<\/h2>\n