Love in action is wisdom

"Real wisdom, God's wisdom begins with a holy life and is characterized by getting along with others. It is gentle and reasonable, overflowing with mercy and blessings, not hot one day and cold the next, not two-faced. You can develop a healthy, robust community that lives right with God and enjoy its results only if you do the hard work of getting along with each other, treating each other with dignity and honor.” - James 3:17-18 The Message

I love this verse ! I really believe this is the season much of the church is living in. We are learning to love our neighbor's as ourselves, and allowing Jesus to teach us a better way.  Loving one another has always been important, but somewhere along the journey of “evolving” as a church we’ve become more self-focused. We care more about getting blessed and less about being a blessing. It’s left much of the church with an entitled attitude, saying “What can I get?” instead of, “What can I give?”  This mentality hinders unity and stops us from forming the type of community God has intended for the church.  

As Christians, the church is our family, and like family we have a tendency to treat strangers better than them. We save our sweetest, most respectful face for those we barely know, all the while being careless, harsh and unforgiving to those we have to live life with daily. 

I believe God is challenging us to rise up higher in this season. Maybe a few seasons ago He’d let us slide by with some things, but in this season I think “Love”, true love, is coming to the forefront. I mean, everywhere we turn, the secular world has the word “Love” slapped on everything from bracelets, t-shirts, backpacks. It’s all about, “Love”.  They throw that word around more than ever, and yet people feel less loved, less appreciated, less accepted than ever before.  Maybe it’s because what they are calling “Love” is not love at all. Maybe the deep void for love, has them using the word love to try and fill the hole, without understanding what love is in action.  

There is no better time than now for the church to rise up with REAL, GENUINE, PASSIONATE love. It’s like fishing in a pond of hungry fish. We know we have what they want, we just have to throw the line out and be accessible. 

I also believe God is challenging us to rise higher in this season for another reason, and that’s so we will be recognized as His. The Bible says in John 13:34-35 The Message, “Let me give you a new command: Love one another. In the same way I loved you, you love one another. This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples—when they see the love you have for each other."  When we love each other, when we put unity first, when we make the effort to protect the hearts of our church family, we are marking ourselves as His.  That’s another reason why I love James 13:17-18 The Message, because it shows us a small glimpse of what love in action is, in relation to our church family.  

“Real wisdom, God's wisdom begins with a holy life and is characterized by getting along with others. It is gentle and reasonable, overflowing with mercy and blessings, not hot one day and cold the next, not two-faced. You can develop a healthy, robust community that lives right with God and enjoy its results only if you do the hard work of getting along with each other, treating each other with dignity and honor.”

We can make a small list to keep in our hearts just from this verse alone: 

-          -Holy life

-         - Getting along with others

-          -Being gentle and reasonable

-          -Overflowing with mercy and blessings

-          -Not hot one day and cold the next

-          -Not two-faced

-          -Treating each other with dignity and honor 

Father God, make us more like you. Your word says that you are the vine and we are the branches and IF we remain in You, that we will bare good fruit. Continue to prune us, and mold us into everything You want us to be, for Your glory. We are willing to be changed. Purify our hearts and cleanse us from deep within that we’d shine with Your light. Build a hunger and passion in our hearts for unity. Teach us Your ways, that our church would thrive the way You desire. In Jesus Name. Amen