Yesterday, one of my "Disciples" (My first true disciple, to be honest) asked to have a talk with me. He asked me a question that, even now, confuses me to some degree or another. He was confused about what he was supposed to do or who he was. At first, I was afraid that he was going to slide out of the faith or was depressed. Upon further questioning, I discovered that he was not wondering away from God, but was confused about how he should act and who he was in Christ. Mind you, he is a brilliant soul and is underestimated. He has Biblical knowledge that may just surpass mine, but he was concerned about how to apply it.
He knew 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (I made sure of that a long time ago) but even knowing what God's love was, he was asking me how to become patient and kind and take on the new nature. This got me to think: I had never heard this question before. Most Christians that I had met either had these characteristics to one degree or another, or was not concerned with the question. At first, I wanted to tell him to pray and to memorize scripture, but I did not feel like I was getting the question fully. How do Christians take that first step?
2 Corinthians 5:17 says that, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" This is something to celebrate. The Christian faith is a walk, but as a new creation, just as a new born, we must learn how to walk. We must learn how to show God's love and receive His love. It is not easy learning to walk, but once you learn, it is beyond wonderful.
To learn how to walk, to love, we must know what it looks like. In the case of my disciple, he knew the verses forwards and backwards, so that was one down. Next was getting from knowing it to living it. The key word to remember, when making this transition, is "practice." As a toddler falls when learning to walk, so will we when learning to love; but just like a toddler, we must learn to stand back up and keep trying until we get it, and we are lucky enough to have a father who will always hold our hand and be patient with us.
We must continue to walk, and fall, and get back up without getting discouraged. We must pray to God that we receive help from Him. If we are trying to be like Him, He would be the one to help the most. In everything we do, analyze our actions and see if they are loving. We must examine ourselves and use the scripture as a standard. If we have habits that are not reflecting God's love, such as cursing, we must recognize it, ask God for help, and break the habit with a new habit, such as counting to ten before speaking or taking a deep breath whenever stress arises. It is not a change that usually happens over night, but it is something that can be watched and changed with a conscious effort and God's help.
As new creatures, we must be ready to fall thousands of times, but be just as ready to stand back up just as many times with God's help. We are new creations with a loving Father. We are not alone.
-D
No comments:
Post a Comment