JUST AS CHRIST

Sometime in January, my phone got bad so I was offline for about a month. I still continued with the daily bible reading/schedule personally.

On the 23rd of January, we read Galatians 5.

I read mine personally. I got to verse 6 and it felt like something struck me. I checked so many translations on my laptop that day. I was on this one verse for over 5 hours.

Something changed in me.That particular verse gave birth to today's teaching. I'm hoping that it changes something in you also as I share all the Holy Spirit gave me

Please I'd like us to pay attention and allow the word do its thing

Galatians 5:6

*If you are a follower of Christ Jesus, it makes no difference whether you are circumcised or not. All that matters is your faith that makes you love others.*

Galatians 5:6 CEV

*All that matters is your faith that makes you love others*

*So if a man belongs to Christ Jesus, it does not matter if He is circumcised or not. He must show by His love that He believes*

. Gal 5:6 WE

Nothing else matters.

Not your speaking in tongues

Not your praying 20 hours daily.

Nothing else matters except your Faith that is expressed in love

What matters is your faith that makes you love others

Let me break the verse down. Your circumcision or not, what matters is faith, the one that works through love.

Whose Love? GOD'S LOVE. What matters is your faith that is shown through GOD'S LOVE FOR YOU.

So our faith works in reliance on God's love for us. But it doesn't stop there, it produces love in us

When the love of God hits us, the only way we can respond is in love

So now, what matters is Faith that is shown in the way we love others (which is only possible by first receiving God's love).

Faith in God is not expressed by how much we participate in religious activities, how much we minister, how much we adhere to a set of rules, or the law. Faith in God is seen in the way we love

A perfect example for this is Christ. We see His belief and Faith in the Father expressed in His love for us

To express our devotion to God, it is not entirely about what we say or believe or the church we attend.

It is demonstrated in our LOVE LIFESTYLE

The basis for Christian life/behavior is the Love of Jesus (the love of God)

As circumcision was to the men under the old covenant so is faith expressing itself through love is to the new covenant. Any Faith that is not shown in love is dead, dead faith. It is useless.

Needless

A waste of your time and deceiving of yourself. A perfect example of this is Jesus

Let's read John 13:33-35

*John  13:33 Little children, yet a little while I am with you. Ye shall seek me: and as I said unto the Jews, Whither I go, ye cannot come; so now I say to you.  13:34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.  13:35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.*_

At this point, we see Jesus telling the disciples He is leaving them.

Let me translate to my understanding

*I'm going somewhere you can't really come with me. Everyone knows you people identify with me. You've been following me up and down. But you see, I'm going and where I am going, you can't follow the way you've been doing. So here is the new way I want you to identify with me: LOVE ONE ANOTHER JUST AS I HAVE LOVED YOU*

Jesus made this statement right after he talked about Judas betraying him and this is so significant for me.

Right after a knowledge of  betrayal, a charge to love

Jesus did something that has never been done before, an emotional one for me cos this is the foundation of Word Alive also.

He created a group identified by one thing: LOVE

So many associations in the world, some people wear black beret, white dress all through. People identifying in different ways : skin color (black students association), uniform, common interests, tattoos, piercings etc

But Jesus gave something unique to the church, to those that were to be identified with Him. He created a body whose identifying factor is LOVE

And nothing else matters

Not the skin color

Not the dressing

Not the beret

LOVE IS THE IDENTIFYING FACTOR.

"So it's no more, I'm a Christian, I attend CCC"

"I'm a Christian and Oh, I love JUST AS CHRIST"

You see what Jesus was saying to them: Though I just spoke of one of you betraying me, Love is still our identity

The same way I extended love to you Peter even after you refused to believe and almost sank, love others.

The same way I (will) run to you hug you Peter even after denying me thrice in a few hours, not shouting "I told you so", that same way, Love others.

The same way I picked you up Remi even though you kept falling every minute, that same way, Love others

What binds us to Christ is our love. It is our identity.Christ gave a NEW Model: LOVE

God is love, and anyone who doesn't love others has never known him.*

1 John 4:8 CEV

Love is the evidence of my belief. If I tell you that I believe, then my love is the witness. My lifestyle of love shows that I'm truly of the faith.This was how Christ identified with God.

Love is the confirmation that my proclamation of faith is real

If we claim to be in the light and hate someone, we are still in the dark. But if we love others, we are in the light, and we don't cause problems for them.

1 John 2:9‭-‬10 CEV

Let's open 1 Peter 4:8

Above all, constantly echo God’s intense love for one another, for love will be a canopy over a multitude of sins.

TPT

Most important of all, you must sincerely love each other, because love wipes away many sins.

1 Peter 4:8 CEV

Love will be a canopy

A covering.In love, there is forgiveness for sins, without number. Like endless forgiveness of sins

There are some people that are so difficult to love.They do things to hurt us always. Getting on our nerves

And we just want them out of our space. But here is what we've called to do; Love them

We've not been called to just love, we've been called to Love the way Christ Loved, the way God loves

In your lives you must think and act like Christ Jesus.

Philippians 2:5 NCV

In your relationship with others, have the same  mindset as Christ

You've not been called to Love people out of reverence or respect for them or based on what they do, we've been called to Love others based on how Christ loves me and them

Samson is a very nice and helpful person to me, but I'm not supposed to love Samson because he is good to me

I've been called to Love Samson because Christ loves me. The day Samson stops being nice and helpful, I will still love him. Because my love for him was never about him but about Jesus.

“If you love me, you will obey my commands.

John 14:15 NCV

Do you love Jesus?

If you say you truly love me, you will keep my commands. If you truly love Jesus, then you will keep His commands. You've been empowered to

Now what is this command you are keeping?

“This is my command: Love each other as I have loved you.

John 15:12 NCV

AS much as

This is My commandment: that you love one another [just] as I have loved you.

John 15:12 AMPC

The standard is Christ, the way He loves us

How has Christ Loved you?

This is a question I want you to write down answers to.

Write down every way you've felt Christ's love especially in times you messed up.

Then extend that love to others when they mess up

MY PRIMARY DUTY IN LOVING OTHERS JUST AS CHRIST

1. CARE: I'm to care for others just as Christ cares for me, regardless of them deserving it or not.

2. ACCEPT:

 Romans 15:7

You will bring God glory when you accept and welcome one another as partners, just as the Anointed One has fully accepted you and received you as his partner. TPT

Accept and welcome others. Christ accepted us with all of our faults. Don't push people away because they are not living a Christ like life yet. There was a time you were there but Christ accepted you still. It is the person you are accepting, not their sins

Jesus accepted you with all your guilt, imperfections, mistakes. He accepted you completely.

He showed you His love regardless.

Accept others

3. BEAR WITH OTHERS

Some people will frustrate you after accepting them. You will almost regret accepting them.

They will keep making the same mistakes over and over and it will be irritating.

But remember, Jesus was patient with you also.

There was a time you kept going back to you sin and He bore with you

Bear with others just as Christ did with you

4. CARRY THE BURDENS OF OTHERS (Just as Christ):

When we go through things, God comes through for us. He stays with us through it all. Our burdens become His.

We should do same for other believers and even unbelievers 

Carry their burdens.

Most of us Christians are quick to help fellow believers but care less about outsiders.

Jesus didn't do that

Even if those people keep hurting you, carry their burdens as Christ did yours.

5. FORGIVE (Just as Christ)

No matter how many times they repeat the same mistake, Forgive them just as Christ forgave you while you were also doing the same thing over and over.

Remember that time you will ask for forgiveness and do the exact same thing again?

Like you never really meant it. You were just asking forgiveness for the sake of it?

God knew but He still forgave you. He didn't cancel you.

Now do same for others.

Forgive them even when they are not apologetic just as Christ did you.

6. SUBMIT (Just as Christ)

Submit to others out of reverence that Christ submitted Himself to us all on the cross for our sins.

That Sacrifice is the inspiration and standard for us towards others

Submit to others even when they are proud and try to ride you or think you are a fool for submitting.

Jesus submitted till death and some people still take Him for granted.

So submit even when you are taken for granted (this is how Christ Loved)

7. ENCOURAGE(Just as Christ) 

Let your words lift and encourage others. When we fall, we look to God for words that will lift us up.When we are sick or in trouble we got ourselves into, we pray to God to send word.We feel so relieved when we get a word of encouragement.We should do same to others.

Stop doing *I told you so* everytime

Jesus did not do *I told you so* to you.

Use your words to lift and not condemn

8. RESTORE (Just as Christ)

When people make mistakes, help them get back on their feet. Even if you are at the receiving end.

Even if they do not care that you are hurt

Even if they are not Acknowledging their fault.

Help restore them just as Christ did you, regardless of their countenance

These things are difficult of course.

And the only way you can give this kind of love is if you have received /experienced God's kind of love

How can you accept others when you don't feel accepted?

I'm praying for everyone reading this, that you come to know God's love in a way you've never before

Till it becomes a standard for your living and relationship with others.The only thing that counts is our faith expressed through love

How do you love?

Is it exactly as Christ as loved you?

The freedom we have in Christ is to serve others in love. This love we've been called to is Extreme. I made a note of everyone I needed to love more (those that know how to get on my nerves).

 I reached out and for some it felt like they were still trying to hurt me.

 But I've been called to a standard so high: putting every other person above me because that's what Jesus did for me. 

And it doesn't matter if they like me back or not. I've been called to be a servant to all men, just as Christ was.

 Every Christian has been called to this standard. Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Paul knew what he was doing here because some people don't deserve my submission.

But Christ submitted regardless, up till death

Now imagine a world where people actually identify Christians by their love.

Where you see people love so much as Christ and you ask, are you a Christian?

Imagine a world where everyone is envious of how we followers of Christ Love (even though they don't really like us)

Imagine a world where even atheists will prefer to hire Christians

Where people will prefer to be our neighbours, colleagues, friends, all because of How we love

That is the world Christ wants us to live.

And it starts with you and I

*Love others JUST AS Christ loves (loved) you*

We can care without letting them draw us into sin/ their sinful acts if the other person is a sinner

I'd always thought of of this and here's my theology: Love is basic and Christ compels us to love but association is a choice. Like say I have a colleague or neighbor who is plain silly and is always involved with immoral things. We can show love to them without association. We just keep praying.

That's what I've always thought but I'm now encouraged to do more. To act the love out daily

The love of Christ. It is what compels us to

On our own, we can't love

But you see the love of Christ, it enables us

Remember Vampire diaries, the vampires look in the eyes of their victim and make them do things they will not do normally

That compelling is what the love of Christ helps us to do.

Let us pray

Thank you for your word Lord.

We pray that your love abounds in us and we are able to live this word that you have shared with us.

If there be anyone around us difficult to love, step in and help us.

Everyone of us will be known by the way we love.

This will be our identification as your followers going forward and it will draw men to you.

We spread your love everywhere.

Amen