The Daily Word
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Abounding
What is your heart filled with? Maybe it is a combination of things, some good and some bad. St. Paul tells the Thessalonians that they must “abound in love” and that this love must extend to all peoples. Do our hearts abound with love? What does this really mean? Does it mean we need to be nice to everyone? But, does being nice someone necessarily mean we love them?
“Now may God himself, our Father, and our Lord Jesus
direct our way to you, and may the Lord make you increase
and abound in love for one another and for all.”
1 Thes. 3:11-12
If I were to ask you, “What is your heart filled with?” what would you say? Would it be filled with hope? Joy? Peace? Envy? What would you say your heart is filled with? Maybe it is a mixture of all of the above. St. Paul encourages the Thessalonians to “abound in love for one another and for all.” Above all else, it is love that must fill our hearts, and this love must not be all self-love, it must be love for others — those whom we love and care about and also those whom we do not know too well (for one another and for all). The first is easy, but I think the second one is a bit harder. To love those who love you is much easier than loving someone who we do not know or even someone who gets on our nerves or someone whom we do not like or who does not like us. But, if we are to truly receive the word of God and have it take root in our hearts, we must love them all. To love does not necessarily mean to be nice. Love has nothing to do with niceness. But it does have something to do with kindness.
One does not need to really love or have a genuine care or concern to be nice to someone. “Oh he’s the just being nice.” Sometimes we care too much about being nice that we compromise the truth. That is not love. True love always communicates the truth. So, being nice does not automatically mean to love, but to be kind, to want another person’s good (even though it may cause discomfort and pain) is to love them. Perhaps we can see this in our own relationships. When we care for someone there are times when we need to tell them things that are not easy to hear, but they need to hear them. Praying about those things and having the courage to say them — that is love, that is kindness, and that is what Christians must do.
Today I encourage you to spend a few minutes thinking about with what does your heart abound. Invite the Lord to sit with you and look at those things. Remember that He does not shame you or think less of you because of any unkind things you may harbor in your heart. Rather, He wants to touch them, bring them to light, purify them, and free you from those chains that hold you down. Allow the Lord to fill your hearts with love, true love that is rooted in Him, love that extends to all peoples, including those who hurt us and those whom we do not like very much.
Go Where?
When Jesus taught about the Christian life, some of those who were following Him felt discouraged and stopped following Him. Jesus asked the Apostles if they wanted to do the same. Following Our Lord is not always easy and I think we have all experienced that in some way. We have two choices, follow the Lord or follow the world. There is no in between. As Christians we must follow the Lord in this world. What does this following mean?
“Jesus then said to the Twelve, ‘Do you also want to leave?’
Simon Peter answered him, ‘Master, to whom shall we go?
You have the words of eternal life.’”John 6:67-68
This past Sunday we hear of the difficulties of some of the followers of Jesus. When they had heard of Jesus’ teachings and words, many became discouraged upon realizing that following Him did not guarantee an easy life. We are told that many began to leave Jesus and returned to their former lives. Jesus then turned to the Apostles and asked them “Do you also want to leave?” Peter in turned answered with a question, “Master, to whom shall we go?”
“Do you also want to leave?” Have you ever felt tired of following Christ? Or have you ever felt tired of being nice or kind? Sometimes being a Christian is not easy. Others may see us as rigid, unaccepting, unkind, conservative, exclusive, and other adjectives. The world will persuade us to become “progressive” but this “progressive” is not true progression; rather the world’s “progression” is really a regression. It dehumanizes the human person. It threatens its dignity. It attempts to remove the image and likeness of God. “Do you also want to leave?” When we are tempted to give up, let us always remember Peter’s response to Jesus, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” It is worth it. The fight and the struggle is worth it. True progression is worth it. Work not for worldly progression but rather for the progression that moves us towards heaven, progression that moves us towards communion with God.
Where will you go today? St. Paul reminds us today in his letter to the Thessalonians that what we have received is the word of God and not the word of man, and so let us treat it as such. And this word of God has taken on flesh and is alive in us! We have received the word of God. God has assumed our human nature and that we may dare participate in the divine life. Think about that. God took on our humanity so that we may share in His divinity. Where else would we want to go? Does my life show that the word of God is alive in us? What Jesus has to offer are the words of eternal life. What is it that you are looking for? What does your heart desire?
Sent Forth by God
Each one of us has been called by God and sent forth by Him on a special mission. We have each been called to a particular vocation. But we also have a common vocation. We are called to holiness. We are are called and sent forth to bear Christ to others. Gideon was a judge who was unsure about what God has asked him to do — to save the Israelites. What do you think he said? What does this have to do with us today?
“The LORD turned to him and said, ‘Go with the strength you have
and save Israel from the power of Midian.
It is I who send you.’”
Judges 6:14
Gideon is one of the most prominent judges in the Old Testament. The Lord asked Gideon to go and save the Israelites from the Midianites, but Gideon was not sure if he could do it. God encouraged him and assured him that He was with him. Later, Gideon asked God for some signs. God was patient with him and gave him those signs. “It is I who send you.”
As Christians we are called to do many things that many people today will laugh at and will think we are crazy or even stupid for doing. To be Christian is to be countercultural. The culture of this world is a culture of death, a culture that promotes selfishness and egocentrism. Every man for himself. But as Christians, we know that life is not that. Life is no selfish or egocentric. To be alive is to be a part of something bigger than ourselves. St. Irenaeus tells us, “The glory of God is man fully alive.” Man is fully alive when he is living life as God intended it to be — living with heaven in mind, living knowing that death and evil has been conquered, living knowing that we are not alone.
God calls and sends you today. You are part of the Body of Christ, the Communion of Saints. It is Christ who lives in you. Wherever you go today, may you remember that. It is Christ who the other should see when they encounter you. You have been sent forth to be salt and light of the world to a world that has lost its taste and a world that is darkened by sin and evil. May we be beacons of light and hope to others. “It is I who send you. Be not afraid.”