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Philippians – Suffering for Christ
because to you it was graciously given on behalf of the Christ not only to believe in Him but also to suffer on behalf of Him, while having the same struggle, of the sort you intuitively see in me, and now you hear by me.Therefore, since there is some exhortation in Christ; since there is some solace of love; since there is some sharing in common of Spirit; since there is some compassion and pity, all of you fill up where my joy is lacking, in order that all of you are of the same frame of mind, while having the same love, together souled, while framing the mind on the one thing. Nothing as measured by rivalry or conceited pride, but in the humility of mind considering other as having more value than yourself. Do not scope out each of your own things, but also of each different one’s things.
The Love of God: Longsuffering
God’s quality of love is defined in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8. Because we are in Christ, and Christ is in us, through being led by the indwelling Holy Spirit as we seek to fulfill His desires and feel at ease with who we are in Christ we are able to express this type of love towards other Christians, Galatians 5:22. This is not a love that is to be directed at unbelievers or the world, for it is by this love towards each other that they will know that we are disciples of Christ. Rather, we are to do good to all, but above all, love the brethren, Galatians 6:10.
The love is longsuffering … 1 Corinthians 13:4
Longsuffering is the long holding out of one’s anger against unreasonable people. It is not the same as patience, which is remaining under a circumstance as we wait for a resolution, Colossians 1:11.
Longsuffering is very important when it comes to dealing with other saints as we mature in our faith. For we are to warn the unruly, comfort the little souled, uphold the weak, and be longsuffering towards all, 1 Thessalonians 5:14. This does not justify a sharp or bitter person that everyone must put up with their “quirks”. If that is you, stop it, for this is not expressing love towards others; rather, it is selfish and has no place among the saints. We are to serve each other in humility and objectivity of mind with longsuffering, Ephesians 4:2-6. As a farmer is longsuffering concerning the fruit of the earth, we are to be longsuffering towards each other, James 5:7-9.
One of the aspects of being a Pastor is to be persistent in teaching the truth, convicting, rebuking, exhorting with […]
Colossians – Making Up What is Lacking in The Body of The Christ
Now I rejoice in the suffering concerning you and making up the things lacking of the affliction of the Christ in my flesh concerning His body, which is the assembly, Colossians 1:24
The Definition of Love – Longsuffering
Love is an aspect of God’s nature which is manifested in seeking the best for the one loved. This attribute of His nature was shown to the disciples in the person of Jesus and shared with all those who believed their message so that even today we see the love of God manifested through the Church. This character is not from humans and in all actuality before God showed us love humans did not know what it was. At best our quality of love only seeks the best for the one loving – we sacrifice for something we want, not for the benefit of another. Now that the world has seen God’s quality of love through the Church, today the world has decided it can show this type of love without God. However, since the world can only mimic what is sees from Christians, for it does not know God, it perverts the love of God into that of human love and tries to claim it is at the very least as good of a love, if not better – for it is all inclusive. Sadly, many assemblies today have accepted this worldly love in place of God’s love. But allowing someone to continue doing things that are harmful to themselves is not love at all. Since we have a lot of “fake” love today, it is important for us to know what classifies as the love of God. That is, we need to know the real thing so that we can easily identify when it is being expressed by a Christian and when an unbeliever, or carnal Christian, is trying to mimic it with a human quality of love.
In 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 we are […]