This is the last series of the devotional published on March 21. The devotional today dwells on wearing the marks of Christ in relation with loving fellow human beings and serving them with the purposes of drawing them closer to God. The major thing that brought Jesus to the world is LOVE for the world: – “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believed in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3: 16). Acting in love as marks of Christ touches several areas of human relations. Love makes us help one who is in need. Love makes us pray for one to be healed and delivered. One sure reason why love is part of marks of Christ is because Jesus said we Christians should “love one another, even as I have loved you” (John 13: 34). We must make sure our love for fellow human being is selfless, sacrificial, indiscriminate, understanding and forgiving.
Christianity is love encompassing. If real Christianity is in place the world will be fully captured for God. Through love, Jesus fed His disciples and those who gathered to hear Him. Christians have to wear His mark of feeding those hungry and cloth the naked. These days, it is very hard to distinguish true Christians from the false ones because the visible manifestation of God’s love, to some extent, is not practiced. Jesus Christ demonstrated marks of love by washing the feet of His disciples. This apart from humility is service in love. Christians are to wear this mark by serving people around them, their community and those considered to be of less privileged than them.
Another way to show Jesus’ kind of love is in forgiving those who wronged us. Jesus forgave those who wronged Him. He forgave the disciples who deserted Him when He was facing trials. He forgave Peter who denied Him openly. He forgave those killing Him on the Cross. There will be no wrong we suffer that can be more significant than how Jesus was wronged. These days, many Christians do not forgive. The church does not forgive also. We Christians easily put out fellow Christian who wronged us. We call for arrest of fellow Christian who wronged us or take such to the court with ease. Today, we allow courts to hear our cases and judge us against the Biblical admonition in 1 Cor. 6: 1 “If any of you has a dispute with another, do you dare to take it before the ungodly for judgment instead of before the Lord’s people?” (NIV).
The beloved, know that manifesting Jesus’ kind of love is costly. It costs God greatly to offer us Jesus as a sacrificial Lamb. It was costly for Jesus to die for our sins due to His love for us. The good news is, by loving people sincerely, we are displaying the most visible, practical and obvious mark of a true disciple of Jesus. The church can still overcome the world, not only by the Blood of Jesus, but by demonstration of love for all mankind.
PRAYERS:
1. Lord Jesus, pour upon my heart, the unfailing love you have for the world to enable me love unfailingly.
2. O Lord God, give me a heart to love fellow human beings. Cast out self-love from my heart in Jesus name.
POSITIVE CONFESSION:
As from today, I take up the cross to love my fellow Christians and the world at large.
bishopubaudenyi@hopealivechurch