1 John 3:16-19
16 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. 17 If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? 18 Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.19 This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence
I had a hard week. I was overwhelmed with life, trying to be a good husband, a good father, a good employee, and a good Youth Pastor. And I have a very counterproductive coping mechanism. I shut down and on this particular day it was bad. I fell asleep on my couch even though my home was in much need of attention. Then I got woken up by someone at my door. It was my good friend Pastor Dakota, and my heart dropped. I wanted to just tell him to leave. I was in my pajama pants. My house was a wreck. My youngest kid Gideon was running around naked. It was just absolute chaos. I felt like a complete failure. I was embarrassed. Then Dakota did something I've never experienced before. He asked if he could help me. Of course I was reluctant, like I just wanted to deal with it all myself. But He is way too good of a person to even let me do that. He came in and not only did he help me get things done but he really reassured me that I'm not a failure and that I wasn't alone. He loved me how Christ loves me. In my struggle he pulled me out of the pit and inspired me to be better.
We as Christians need to be like Christ for people. We need to be willing to love each other by our actions. And when we are in need of help ourselves, we need to stop putting up walls and keeping people out. We need to stop putting up walls to Jesus. When we try and power through our struggles ourselves, it is prideful. If we don’t humble ourselves, we will fail. Dakota gave his whole day up for me. Dakota showed how we lay our lives down for each other. It’s not just being willing to take a bullet for others, it's being unselfish for each other. Laying down what we want for the needs of others. As the church we tell others how much we love them, but when it comes time to help, we hesitate. Let’s fall more in love with Jesus so that his love overflows and we pour it out on our brothers and sisters in need. Let our love for others be genuine and unwavering because that's how Jesus loves us. If we love others in this way our hearts can truly be at rest knowing that we belong to God and are set apart for his purpose. What is love? It's God’s spirit calling us to action for others, for their benefit and not our own.
God Bless, Pastor Brenan