"22Now that you've cleaned up your lives by following the truth, love one another as if your lives depended on it." (The Message)
"I'll do that when I get my life together."
It is a common thought among many of us in todays world. There are things that we know we need to do or want to do but there are just some things that need to be taken care of first. We have a tendency to see our present circumstances as a distraction and inconvenience keeping us from what we are actually supposed to be doing. So we tell ourselves things such as:
The problem with all these whens is that they keep changing. So we put off doing what we believe God has created us to do or we use it as an excuse to avoid doing what we afraid will be to difficult.
Peter, in this passage, seems to be saying that we should love others now that we have our lives together. But we all know that none of us really have our lives together yet so that whole loving others thing must be for a later time. This would be the farthest thing from Peter's mind however. What is actually being said is that the moment you place yourself on the path with Jesus you begin putting your life, mind, and soul on the right path. Because of that you should be all about loving those around you. When you are following Jesus loving others is not an option it is the only thing that will keep your faith going. You might think that you will love others when you get your relationship with Jesus worked out, but the reality is that you will never get your relationship with Jesus worked out unless you are actively and radically loving those around you.
It is a common thought among many of us in todays world. There are things that we know we need to do or want to do but there are just some things that need to be taken care of first. We have a tendency to see our present circumstances as a distraction and inconvenience keeping us from what we are actually supposed to be doing. So we tell ourselves things such as:
- when I get out of school I will ...
- when I get a job I will ...
- when I get a better job I will ...
- when I retire I will ....
- when I ....
The problem with all these whens is that they keep changing. So we put off doing what we believe God has created us to do or we use it as an excuse to avoid doing what we afraid will be to difficult.
Peter, in this passage, seems to be saying that we should love others now that we have our lives together. But we all know that none of us really have our lives together yet so that whole loving others thing must be for a later time. This would be the farthest thing from Peter's mind however. What is actually being said is that the moment you place yourself on the path with Jesus you begin putting your life, mind, and soul on the right path. Because of that you should be all about loving those around you. When you are following Jesus loving others is not an option it is the only thing that will keep your faith going. You might think that you will love others when you get your relationship with Jesus worked out, but the reality is that you will never get your relationship with Jesus worked out unless you are actively and radically loving those around you.
Some thoughts to ponder and share with others:
- What have you put off doing until you get _____ done?
- Is it easier to love Jesus or to love other people? Why?
- Who needs you to love them so that they might know that Jesus loves them?
- What can you do today that would be a demonstration of radical Jesus love for someone else?
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