Season's Change (6) “A time to love and a time to hate. A time for war and a time for peace” (Eccl. 3:8) <<<Back to Season's Change<<< |
Love and Its Rival [12/02/08] You cannot truly love, unless you possess Christ. With Christ absent within, your natural instincts take over. Love helps us to look pass offences (1st Peter 4:8). Loving God is the most important command. So, if you are truly a believer – a follower of Christ you will not want to see any of God’s children/creation come to harm.
We ask: ‘Where is the love?’ And we pray for world peace. But it is the individuals who need to exercise this and then we will see the evidence of it. To love God, which is the first command, will naturally see us loving each other, which is the second most important commandment. That means it will be evident in all your relationships: you will love your neighbour (everyone you come in contact with) not just your local church brothers and sisters or the immediate members of your family. Love crosses all borders and breaks down all barriers. To do the opposite naturally brings hate which produces war. There is the personal war within you; struggling with taking off the old and putting on the new garment. Then there’s the collective war among members and groups within the church which feeds into the community. It then influences local government who in turn, influences central government and eventually influences the world. With corruption in the church, there is no escaping it in the government system and the government are the ones who set the rules that are used to govern our lives. Therefore love cannot be preached without being lived. To live a life of love is a full sermon being preached. “God’s secret plan has now been revealed to us; it is a plan centred on Christ, designed long ago according to His good pleasure. And this is His plan: at the right time He will bring everything together under the authority of Christ—everything in heaven and on earth. Furthermore, because of Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for He chose us from the beginning, and all things happen just as He decided long ago. God’s purpose was that we who were the first to trust in Christ should praise our glorious God. And now you also have heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you.” (Ephesians 1:9-13).
© 2008 J. S. Ramkissoon
