Called to love endlessly!

Reading: 1 Corinthans 12 & 13 chapters

And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13:13

We’re living in a time where strife, hate, terror is rampant. Amidst all the chaos, it is Christians, we believers who are called to love; to love unconditionally and endlessly. In the above mentioned chapters, Apostle Paul talks at length about diversity in the Church concerning the gifts of Holy Spirit. There’s one gift among all of them, the lack of which can make all other spiritual gifts incomplete. That’s the gift of love. While Paul encourages everyone to ‘earnestly covet the best gifts’ (1 Cor 13:31), he writes the next chapter and says – ‘I show unto you a more excellent way’. That, friends, is the way of love, which at the end is termed as ‘the greatest of these’.

The gift of love is undoubtedly the greatest but the toughest of all to practice because there are a lot of ‘personal’ factors that hinder us from practicing this gift extensively.
We’re called to love, and we need to live up to it, because, we’re commanded to do so —

• Jesus commanded us “Love one another”, He said “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another” John 13:34-35
• “…you shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these. ” Mark 12:30-31
• We are called to: “Walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God” Colossians 1:10

When someone did question Lord Jesus “Who is my neighbor?” He illustrated the answer through the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:27-37). The parable implies that at any point, the person next to us is our neighbor, and we ought to show our love to our neighbor.

A sad witness among many Christian believers today is that love is lost within their personal intimate relationships like spouses, families, children, between other believers, between other members of church; forget our love for non-Christians and those who persecute us. We will also find many believers praying for lot of (spiritual / material) gifts, but only a few praying for the ‘grace to love one another more’.

To love, can only be learned from Lord Jesus Christ and none else. Who, knowing that were sinners, and also that we shall still falter in our walk with Him humbled himself to an extent that He left His glory, laid down His life for us even in a shameful death.

So, if you’re still wondering what you’re spiritual gift is, here it is: ‘TO LOVE’!

Simple as they are, here are some ways how we can exercise our gift of love for others today?

• Give up all your grudges against anyone. Pray for forgiveness from God, and if you can, reach out to the person. Mend your relationships. Begin at home.
• Volunteer to assist a friend in need, don’t ignore them.
• Avoid a situation in relationships which might cause you to sin
• Begin sharing the Word of God with friends
• Invite a friend to participate in prayer with you
• Be committed to being honest
• Reach out to your enemies
• Don’t forget to forgive. FORGIVE ALWAYS!

Finally, we can only love endlessly if we experienced the love of Lord Jesus personally in our lives. Only with the support of the Holy Spirit can we live a life worthy of him. So, we ought to:

• Grow in our personal relationship with Lord Jesus
• Spend more time in prayer.
• Study of God’s Word to strengthen our will to love as He loves us.

Lead by example - Servitude

“I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.”
John 13:15

When we read maundy Thursday account written by St. John in ch.13, here we find that Jesus, a day before the Passover feast had last supper with His Twelve disciples in the upper room and he further writes that Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot was also in the upper room and he had decided already to betray Jesus. Lord Jesus Christ not only knew that Judas would betray Him, but also that the other disciples will leave Him alone and they will run away. Jesus knew that it was time for Him to leave this world. He had to return to the Father. Jesus knew that He had come to the earth for a definite purpose.

So, during the meal, Jesus left the table, wrapped a towel round His body, poured water into a basin and then He began to wash the disciple’s feet. He also dried them with the cloth around his waist. Usually, a slave does such a task. It was custom for slaves to wash the feet of their master’s guests. The slaves would do this as soon as the guests entered the house. But Jesus did it during the meal.

Lord Jesus Christ wanted to show His disciples how to behave, not only with each other, but also with everybody. (Mtt.22:24 because dispute arose among them that who is the greatest among them and also Judas was there). He did not just tell them what to do. He was serving them as He knelt down to wash their feet. He was their Lord and Teacher. But He did what a slave would do on their behalf. And He was the Son of Almighty Lord God and Creator of the universe. But He served His disciples, even after knowing His disciples' betrayal that was to happen. He made Himself humble.

He did a task that slaves did. He set an example by washing the feet of Judas, who betrayed, and sold His Master for thirty pieces of silver. He wanted the disciples to do the same. He meant any kind of act that show love and honour to other people, even to the enemies.

That is what Jesus wants us to do. He has called us and wants us to serve all; it doesn’t mean our loved one or favorite one, but to all. We should be humble. We should not be too proud to serve other people. Jesus - God’s Son did the job of a slave on behalf of His disciples. We should always be willing to serve each other in any way.

Remember, He even washed the feet of the people who sold him and turned their back on Him.

Yours in Christ,
Rev. Varinder Kumar