This was part of our reading the other night at Bible Study...
"This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with word or tongue, but with actions and in truth. This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in His presence whenever our hearts condemns us. For God is greater than our hearts, and He knows everything.
"Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God." (1 John 3:16-21, NIV)
This was reassuring to me the other night! I guess you've probably felt how I was!... When you've given all you can to help someone else, and all you get is a kick in the head?? Then you begin to think, what for?? What was the point?... it wasn't appreciated!
But then I began to think, that's what Jesus went through for us! How He must feel!! He gave His LIFE, but we humans have rejected His love. So I guess the Lord allows these experiences, so we can feel His heart.
And then verse 19 encouraged me, knowing that we have done the right thing, and shared Christ's love, "we set our hearts at rest in His presence whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and He knows everything." (NIV) He has seen our devotion to others... His love has been displayed in our lives!
"This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with word or tongue, but with actions and in truth. This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in His presence whenever our hearts condemns us. For God is greater than our hearts, and He knows everything.
"Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God." (1 John 3:16-21, NIV)
This was reassuring to me the other night! I guess you've probably felt how I was!... When you've given all you can to help someone else, and all you get is a kick in the head?? Then you begin to think, what for?? What was the point?... it wasn't appreciated!
But then I began to think, that's what Jesus went through for us! How He must feel!! He gave His LIFE, but we humans have rejected His love. So I guess the Lord allows these experiences, so we can feel His heart.
And then verse 19 encouraged me, knowing that we have done the right thing, and shared Christ's love, "we set our hearts at rest in His presence whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and He knows everything." (NIV) He has seen our devotion to others... His love has been displayed in our lives!
1 comment:
This is a beautiful blog.
The essence of 'laying down our lives' is a lesson I learned in the summer of 2007. And I learned it from a sister who laid her life for others in every step of her life. Seeing the love of Christ displayed in such a way through an individual is the greatest example we can see and stresses the truth of this verse.
From that point on, I knew my life is going to be changed forever. She made such a major impact in my life and I realized that to lay down our lives is the greatest thing we can do to portray the love of Christ for others, through us. As it changed me, I knew it would change others.
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