SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/26/2017 9:57 PM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-2 “United in Love”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Colossians
2:2b
Message of the verse: “having been knit together in love;”
The display of unity in practice by those who are
believers in the church was a constant concern by the apostle Paul, for as
believers we are to not only tell a world in need about Jesus Christ, but we
are also to represent Him while here on earth and love and unity are a large
part of that. Paul writes to the
Corinthians in 1 Cor. 1:10 “10 Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our
Lord Jesus Christ, that
you all agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be made complete in the same mind
and in the same judgment.” A similar
statement is made at the end of 2 Corinthians 13:11 “be like-minded, live in
peace.” These types of exhortations are
rather common in Paul’s letters.
If we are looking for a key to practical unity we need to look at Ephesians 4:3 “being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” MacArthur writes “Preserving the unity the Spirit has created is accomplished by being peacemakers. Peacemakers love each other. Such love is evident when believers ‘put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you’ (Col. 3:12-13).”
MacArthur offers this wise statement: “Love is always linked with humility, because
only humble people can love. After urging the Philippians to
pursue unity in Philippians 2:2, Paul went on to show them how in verse 3-8:
“3 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; 4 do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. 5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. 8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”
Now as we think about these verses, which speak of the
humility of Jesus Christ, we can see that the key that opens the door of love and unity is humility,
for there has never been a more humble person than the Lord Jesus Christ, for
to leave the “Ivory Palaces” of heaven to come to planet earth, Jesus had to
demonstrate humility in doing that.
John writes in 1 John 3:16-18 “16 We know love by this,
that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the
brethren. 17 But whoever has the world’s
goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does
the love of God abide in him? 18 Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and
truth.”
MacArthur concludes “Loving someone is not defined by
having warm feelings toward them, but by meeting their needs. The last time you made a sacrifice for
someone was the last time you loved him or her.
Love is first action, and then the emotions follow. So the strengthened heart is a heart that has learned to love.”
2/26/2017 10:19 PM
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