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.
TO PONDER
Here it is, the most commonly recognised Bible verse about love. It's read at almost every wedding, has appeared in almost every 'Christian' anniversary or valentines day card. Strangely enough, it is also one of those Bible verses that sometimes makes its way into secular conversations about love. Unfortunately though, the way we tend to hear it is not the way it was intended.
It's true of me as much as it is of anyone else. I hear these words from 1 Corinthians and think to myself, "see it's no wonder I'm upset, my wife doesn't love me like that." Another variation could be, "Why can't my kids just learn to love one another and stop fighting all the time?...it's no wonder we are stressed out was their parents." I mean you could name a plethora of other situations whether they be in the family, workplace, school yard or purely social contexts and find the same thing - we 'love' 1 Corinthians 14 when it helps us show others how they are not loving us 'properly'.
It's a different story if we hold ourselves to the same standard. Then these words become something we'd like to avoid. When my children misbehave this verses says to me - if you love them, be patient, don't get angry. When my spouse and I get into an argument this verse tells me not to bring up all the other things that have hurt me in the past but to be gentle and seek to understand where they are coming from before pushing my own agenda.
One quote I came across while looking into the theme of love this week was from C.S.Lewis. He said, "Love is not affectionate feeling, but a steady wish for the loved person’s ultimate good as far as it can be obtained." I think we need to hear 1 Corinthians 14 with that perspective in mind. This is not about how others should love me, it's all about how I am to love others and to always seek the ultimate good of the other first.
PRAYER: Loving Heavenly Father, you are the source of all love and the only place where perfect love is to be found. Please help me to stop seeking to be loved perfectly by others and instead help me to desire to love others more perfectly. Amen
Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle
And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.
TO PONDER
What does it really mean to 'rely' on God's love?
We talked about 'knowing' God's love in yesterday's devotion so today we'll focus on relying on God's love. This is important because I think we often rely on God's love in a similar way we might rely on the love of our spouse, parents, or siblings. This is not a bad place to start, however I'm sure it wouldn't take any of us long to think of examples in our own lives or in the lives of others, of the family member who we don't talk to any more, or the broken marriage that we have moved on from our the estranged parents we no longer see. The problem with relying on God's love the way we rely on the love of others is that we learn over a lifetime, that the love of others simply cannot be relied upon.
That kind of experience leaves us always wondering whether God's love for us is complete, especially when we 'fail' to live the way he has outlined for us. While I'm not proud of it, I know that at times, the way I display my love for my own children when they have failed to live within the boundaries and expectations that their mother and I have set is probably not showing them what the love of God actually looks like. This is why we often find ourselves, either consciously or subconsciously, doing things to 'earn' God's love and approval.
Relying on God's love is about trusting that it is always there, always true, always for us, even when we do not manage to live our lives in accordance wth God's expectations. Relying on God's love is learning to trust that God is at work for our good, even when we cannot see even one scrap of good amidst our present circumstances. We can do this because God's love is not like the love of others. It is not conditional, it is not prone to whims and circumstance. It is proven time and again throughout the testimony of Scripture both in the Old and New Testament, but especially in Jesus, who went as far as to offer himself in our place.
You can rely on God's love because it has overcome sin, death and the devil. There is no power that is greater than it and nothing can separate you from it.
PRAYER: Loving Heavenly Father, Thank you for the gift of your steadfast and perfect love. I simply ask that you would help me to rely on your love more fully, That I would know how to trust your love in a way that it casts out fear and anxiety in me and empowers me to live completely for you. Amen
Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle.
Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.
TO PONDER
There is a profound difference between knowing about someone and actually knowing them. I mean, I can do a Google search or check the Wikipedia page or even ask ChatGPT or some other AI chatbot to tell me all they can about Donald Trump. I can watch all the news reports and listen to all the political reporters all the opinion pieces, but even knowing all of that is not the same as actually having a personal relationship with him.
That's kind of what John is getting at here in this epistle. There is a difference between knowing that 'God is love" and experiencing that love first hand. Not only that, but only when we have known the steadfast and self giving love of God towards us are we able to then show that love to others.
There is a popular anonymous secular saying about this phenomenon too. It goes like this, 'show me your friends and I will show you your future." The rest of the world gets that we become like the people we hang out with. So when we hang out with God, when we know his love and remember to live from that love, we begin to exhibit that love because the love of God begins to shape and form us into his likeness.
So, I'll say it one more time; there is a difference between knowing about God's love and knowing God's love for you personally. One will transform you, the other will usually just leave you trying to earn something you already have. Why not get to know first hand the love God has for you?! He's not hiding it, it's in the Bible, it's on the cross, it's in the care and concern that his people show to you and for one another. Sometimes we just have to slow down and recognise it.
PRAYER: Loving Heavenly Father, Thank you for all the ways that you have shown your love to me, from providing all I need each day, to sending Jesus to the cross for my sake. Please help me to slow down and learn to see and experience your love for me first hand in every moment of every day so that others might also get to encounter your love for them, through me. Amen
Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.
TO PONDER
TA quick reflection today that comes from our pastor's conversation about this text from 1 John.
When you think about Jesus 'laying down his life" what do you think of?
The most common answer is "when he died on the cross" - and of course, this is perhaps the most obvious and profound example.
But the reality is much greater than just this one moment. Jesus entire life was lived for the sake of others. He healed the sick - touching those whose conditions would make him 'unclean' in the eyes of the religious elite. He ate with sinners, tax collectors, and prostitutes - those who the rest of the world rejected and so was rejected himself. While He took time out to pray and be by himself, he did this so he was prepared to serve others well.
This is the kind of 'laying down' of life that John is talking about, not just a one time grand gesture but an ongoing pattern of putting your own agenda aside for the sake of others. That's the kind of love Jesus demonstrated and is the kind of love we now can share with others in his name.
PRAYER: Lord Jesus, Thank you that you laid your life down in every way so that I may have life to the full in your name. Please help me to live that life and show your love to others faithfully in every moment, Amen
Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle
Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong.
TO PONDER
I think this is a very fitting Bible verse from the New Testament that echoes the call of God to Joshua and then from Joshua to the Israelites when we began going through the book of Joshua some 8 weeks ago, "be strong and courageous".
One of the thing my wife Elise (a Primary School teacher) and I have been talking about recently is the lack of resilience that seems to be present in young people these days. I'm sure there are lots of different contributing factors to the decline of resilience in young people but it seems to me that one of the biggest things is hat we no longer expect people to do hard things. I'm sure many of you reading this will be my vintage or older and remember a time where if you found a task or a subject as school difficult, you were told by both your parents and your teacher to work harder, to practice more, and stick at it until you got it done.
That just doesn't seem to be how things work any more. If something does not come easily to a child, parents are much more likely to say these days, how are you going to make it easier for my chid to succeed. Now please don't mishear me, there are children who have genuine additional needs when it comes to education and legitimate adjustments do sometimes need to be made, but just because something is difficult, doesn't mean you give up on it.
This is an important skill because Jesus said following him would not be easy. In fact, there are many people I know who used to be followers of Jesus who now no longer follow him simply because it was hard. It was easier in the long run to go out with their friends on Saturday evening and get outrageously drunk and then sleep it off on Sunday morning than it was to exercise some self control, set a good example and still be okay the next morning. It was easier to accept the evolutionary arguments from their academic friends about evolution and the origins of life, than to think deeply about the truth of Scripture and defend their beliefs in the face of criticism.
Being a follower of Jesus today requires resilience, strength, and courage. It always has and it always will.
PRAYER: Lord Jesus, nothing is more courageous that your decision to go to the cross for my sake. I pray that you might use my life in such a way that others may come to know what you have done for them as they see you alive in me. Amen
Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle.
Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’
TO PONDER
One way that people have understood 'personhood' throughout human history is by describing it in three, sometimes four, different elements. He heart represents our emotions and desires (see yesterday's reflection), soul is usually understood as our being and will, and mind is our intellect and reason. The fourth you sometimes hear is 'strength' which usually refers to our physical body.
The reason for pointing this out is that in the modern world we don't tend to think in those terms so much any more, so a Bible verse like this can seem strange. However, I think ti explains a fairly common phenomenon. Psychologists often call it 'compartmentalisation'. It's the idea that we break our lives into different compartments and there are many reasons a person might do this. However, in the life of a Christian, I think the most common is so we can justify doing things we know are not in alignment with the way God calls us to live. We can say to ourselves that we will give Sunday morning to God by going to church and singing a few songs at God, but then the rest of my week,l the rest of my life is mine to live however I see fit.
You see the problem don't you? Jesus tells us you cant break your life up and just give God a few 'bits' of it. God want you to love him with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. The minute we hold anything back, we have fallen short of this command of Jesus.
How wonderful it is that even knowing we would hold parts of ourselves back from Hm, Jesus still remained dedicated to us and has provided a way for us to more on and be reconciled and re-dedicated to God when we fall. What part of your life are you holding back from God at the moment? How could you come to him and hand it over today?
PRAYER: Lord God, You are the giver of all good things and I know that all your promises are sure. And yet, I also know that I regularly hold parts of myself, my life back from you and all that you have promised me in your son Jesus. Please help me to lay all of my life at your feet and to walk each day more completely in the fullness of life that you have given me in Jesus. Amen
Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle
I seek you with all my heart;
do not let me stray from your commands.
TO PONDER
I know Pastor Nich and I talk about this all the time but there is a good reason for it - Jesus spoke about it a lot too. It's the desires of our hearts.
So often the Bible talks, like it does here in psalm 119, about loving or seeking God with 'all our hearts'. Jesus and the apostles often spoke or wrote about the things our hearts desire - "where your treasure is, there your heart is also", or "Love the Lord your God with ALL YOUR HEART, soul mind and strength," that kind of thing.
This is because our desires are often the thing that run away with us first. You see it in young children at daycare who see a toy they want and simply snatch it from another child. They are too young to filter their behaviour through the reasoning processes we learn as we mature but their actions are driving in those moment by their desire for the toy.
Adults are not really much different. Most of us hold in our heart, a picture of the way we think life ought to be. This is the life that our heart desires. That picture might look slightly different for everyone. Now unlike the simply mind of a toddler, we have the capacity to be much more subtle about our behaviour choices and to cover up the true desires of our hearts. However, you had better believe that when someone gets in the way or disrupts that little picture of how we think things should work, that beautiful dream which our heart has decided is the perfect world, that there is a reaction on the way.
At that point we have 2 possible reactions. One is to take it upon ourselves to restore the perfect image that our self centred hearts have concocted for us, or we can seek God with all our hearts. See the reality is that only God can see the whole scene clearly, and only his picture of the way things should be is truely 'right'. As the wisdom writer tells us in Proverbs 3:5-6, we should trust in the Lord with all our hearts and lean not on our own understanding. If we acknowledge God in all our ways, He will make our paths straight.
God has given us a wonderful gift by giving us minds that can reason and hearts that desire good things, however our hearts are not always to be trusted. So put your trust in God instead.
PRAYER: Lord Jesus, I know that I do not fully understand the consequences of even some of my simplest decisions. I pray that you would lead me and guide me today and make my paths straight and give me a heart that longs for the same things as your own heart. Amen
Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle.
And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
TO PONDER
What is the purpose of your life? It's not an insignificant question. In fact, it is a question every person has to grapple with at some point or another and the way we answer it has potential to really shape who we are and who we become.
Because our purpose is not simply found in our occupation. You might argue that the purpose of being a doctor or surgeon is to alleviate suffering and save lives, but you might also be able to answer the questions another, more self centred way - to earn a lot of money.
How we perceive our purpose has some role in helping us determine what we do but the deeper thing it influences is why we do it.
So how does your dedication to Jesus influence they way you do your job, or interact with others on the train or in the office? How does doing everything in the name of Jesus help you to bring glory to him, to give thanks to God and to help others know the love of God which you already know?
It doesn't matter what your occupation is, it doesn't matter your age, your ethnicity, your gender or any other personal trait you might like to use to distinguish one person from another, the purpose we have is to bring glory to Jesus and give thanks to God for all he has done. So how will you do that in all the tasks you have to accomplish today?
PRAYER: Father God, There are so many things need to be attended to each day. Often the busyness leads me to forget that you are with me and that in everything I do there is an opportunity to do it in a way that glorifies you and helps others encounter you through me. Please help me to keep my eyes on that reality and to do everything I do today in your name and for your glory. Amen
Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.
TO PONDER
I think we can sometimes make the mistake of thinking of worship and sacrifice as a similar, if not the same, thing. After all, most of the gathering and worship in the Old Testament temple system centred around animal sacrifice. I want to offer us a different way to think about it.
Here in Romans 12, as in just about every other epistle he wrote, the apostle Paul begins his admonition by reminding his readers of what God has already done for them. This is the first thing I think we forget.
I can't tell you the number of people who, over the years, have explained their attendance at church every Sunday as part of their 'sacrifice' to God. That somehow missing out on a Sunday morning sleep in is a sacrifice that somehow impresses God and demonstrated their dedication to God. They speak of it in a way that sounds as if they expect something more from God because they 'turn up'. Paul is saying that's wrong. We don't turn up because we need to earn something from God, we turn up because of what he has already done.
Any time we have the attitude that we have to do something to "keep God happy" something is out of order in our thinking. We offer ourselves to God because of what he has already done for us. This is how we demonstrate to God our gratitude for what he has done. It is how we demonstrate the 'worth' (from worthship) which we place on what God has done and communicate that to those around us.
Being dedicated to God simply means to be set apart for His purpose, to put aside our own interests and selfish desires and allow him to be the one to set the direction and the agenda. That is how we worship him.
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, I know that my motives are often selfish. Sometimes even my involvement at church or other community groups is motivated more by what I get out of the arrangement that what I might contribute or provide for others. Please help me to grow in your understanding of what it means to serve and worship you with all of my life. Help me to make my life a living sacrifice to you in light of all that you have done for me. Amen
Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle