This week's "Reflection" by Gary Keith, Executive & Teaching Pastor
This week's message was another direct and practical message from James. It feels like each week James addresses issues that are just as relevant to us today as to the people he wrote to in the first century. Yes, prejudice is still alive in the 21st century and the equally difficult truth to swallow is that prejudice is alive in the Christian church. May God help us to change this!
As I reflect on today's passage I think about the difficulty we all have when it comes to loving others unconditionally. I think this is hard because in the human experience we have very few (if any) examples to follow. So let me ask you a question: How do you grow when it comes to loving others unconditionally? How do you know when you are doing well in this area? How has the Bible been helpful to you in this growth area? After being in church today what plans do you have to grow in this area? Let's be a community and learn from each other.
By the way, thanks for those of who who said encouraging words about today's message. Way to live the truth I mentioned as part of the passage!
Many times I find it hard to look past someone's sinful behavior to love them unconditionally. Sometimes people don't seem to realize they are in sin or if they do many times they don't seem to care about the affect its having on their life or the lives of others. How do you love people like that? I often ask myself that question when God always reminds me of an amazing fact: that's exactly what He does for me. Oh to love people as God does all the time. Thanks for the reminder Pastor Gary.
ReplyDeleteI tend to think that trials help us to love unconditionally. If we think about it, we can remember when the unconditional love of God got us through the tough times. We need to be examples of this type of love or our walk means nothing.
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