John The Beloved

Why We Trample One Another

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"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law." —Galatians 5:22 (ESV)

I can be about as patient as a two-year-old wanting more Cheerios at breakfast. It's a virtue that, for me, comes only after much practice and copious amounts of prayer. And even then, it's only the Holy Spirit's work within these dry impatient bones.

There are times when I lose all patience, and my reaction to a situation spirals into self-serving anger. It's during those moments I wonder if the Spirit really has any power over the old me at all. For, at base, I am a creature of force.

My Strength Is No Strength

In Paul's letter to the Galatians he emphasizes true Christian freedom because the Galatians fell under a false interpretation of it. After being duped into a lifestyle of law keeping, emphasizing works of the flesh, the Galatians ironically fell into a self-serving immorality.

The commentators remind us, "Our efforts to please God in our own strength result only in sinful behavior." The Galatians experienced this firsthand. Their sinful behavior festered in their personal relationships. They lived in danger of devouring one another through their biting and loveless interactions.

We think the law is so bad. By God, we want our Christian freedom, and now! But the law is less a list of do's and don'ts and more of a "way". The Hebrew idea of living by the law is walking in the way. John the Beloved often refers to this "way". And for John, he ate with, and talked with and lived with The Way. For it is Christ himself.

"I am The Way!" says Jesus.

Hell Pursuing, Spirit Living

And so when we fail to walk in The Way, we tend to walk another path—a path we think will lead to the good life. But that way crumbles into selfish immorality. Our self-producing godliness deceives us—we sleep our holiness away in the arms of other people, we destroy one another with our words and we trample each other under the force of our stride as we walk down the way of hell itself.

I feel hell biting at my heels when I act out of my impatience—it's like the Spirit evaporates from the room, replaced by the stench of a wayward morality.

Am I making too much of our relationships? I don't think so. How we treat one another is how we treat the rest of the world, a world searching for The Way. Our relationships form our families, form our friendship circles, form our communities and form our work environments. It all starts with how we treat our siblings and parents, our spouses and children and friends.

I want to walk in You, Oh Lord. For you are The Way. Help me stride with you as your Spirit works in me—producing the life-giving fruit rising from my ashes, and blooming into patience. 

Stop over here and share an encouragement or insight on patience or another fruit of the Spirit.  

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The Prayer Series // Our Shining North

I was tutored in Greek back in 2001. I walked into Dr. Randolph's humble home and sat down next to him at his computer. He set the font size at 300%. It was huge. His eyes were ailing, but his brain was sharp as a razor.

Before we began our session he said, "Tim, do you know why we study the Greek language?"

"No," I said.

"We study the Greek because we love the Word."

I didn't reply. I just listened.

"We study language because we love the Word of God," he repeated.

I nodded, giving him my ascent, and we began our session. We only met for a few sessions, and then I was off to the next thing. But when I nodded, I lied. I didn't love the Word of God, and I knew it. I knew it as soon as he made the statement. I wanted to know for knowing's sake. How embarrassing.

Dr. Randolph passed away years ago. So many people grieved his death. He lived his life in love with the Word of God. This no one would dispute. I knew him before our session. But having personal interaction with him made his passing so much harder; especially since I came to him for "learning" when he wanted to fuel my passion for the Word.

I will never forget his statement.

Say what you want about he History Channel's rendition of The Bible. I will tell you this. As I watched I choked back tears almost the whole time. My wife noticed. She asked, "Why are you crying?"

All I could think about were Dr. Randolph's words: "We study Greek because we love the Word of God. Do you love the Word of God, Tim?"

As I stared at the screen watching Abraham tie up Isaac, preparing to gut him for the sacrifice, my eyes filled up. And when my wife asked me why I was crying I could finally answer Dr. Randolph's question truthfully:

"Because, I love The Word," I said to her.She did not reply. We both kept watching.

John The Beloved wrote, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." When I replay Dr Randolph's question to me I hear this: "Tim, do you love the Christ, the Son of the living God?"

And then, I hear my response: "No, Dr. Randolph. I do not. I only want to know in order to fulfill my pride, to fulfill an obligation, to look smart around others."

Time has ticked on since then. And now I read the popular blogs and articles and commentary and cultural hoo-ha and I wonder who among us loves the Word.

Do you love the Word? Is it living and breathing in your brain right now? Or do you crack your Bible only to know or for selfish comfort? The Word, the logos, shines as our north star in this life. But it's difficult to follow something we don't love. Do you love the Word of God? Do you love, the Christ? 

May this be our daily prayer: I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways. I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word. (Psalm 119:15,16)