The Church - Disciples Who Grow and MultiplyНамуна

The Church is God’s family and we are called to love one another. As members of the Church, we are living stones. We cannot attend Church as mere consumers

REFLECTIONS:

Read 1 Peter 2:4-9 and 1 John 4:7-21, then take some time to answer the following questions:

➤What does it mean to love one another and how can you do so?

➤As a disciple of Christ, how can you be a living stone in His body?

When talking about love, it is important to fully understand that love is not an emotion or a feeling. Love is a choice and a decision that is played out in our lifestyle and our deeds. God decided to love us before the creation of the world and He demonstrated His love by giving Christ on the cross (cf. Romans 5:8 and Ephesians 1:4). When we meet Him, through the Holy Spirit, He pours His love into our hearts. The Church is built on relationships forged by the Holy Spirit, and we are one in Him. This means we don’t need to pray for unity or to be able to love one another. We just need to align ourselves with what God says and has done. We don’t love one another based on our interests; we do so because God placed His supernatural love in our hearts. People who might kill or detest one another in the world become one family in the Church – brothers and sisters in Christ who work together. That is the ministry of reconciliation that Christ has given us.

The Bible reminds us that we cannot say we love God, whom we have not seen, if we do not love our brother, whom we have seen (cf. 1 John 4:20). We can’t choose the people God places with us in our local church, but we can choose to love them. This love is revealed in a very tangible way when we decide to take care of one other, to honour one other and to treat our brothers and sisters based on whom God says they are, not based on how we see them today. Love means being willing to encourage one another in all circumstances, supporting our fellow believers through thick and thin, and being kind and considerate. Have you ever noticed that when you bite your tongue, the first thing your tongue does is reach out and touch the very tooth that bit it? This picture of the harmony that exists in the physical body applies to the body of Christ.

Love for one other is Jesus’s way of telling the world that we are His disciples (cf. John 13:35). This love naturally leads us to turn our attention away from ourselves and our own success and to focus instead on the success and growth of others. This shows us that no member of the Church can do things alone. The best course of action is to make sure everyone is working together so that everyone becomes a disciple. Nobody is “unemployed” in a church of disciples because disciples always seek to become like their master, and our master is Jesus.

Since “Church” is often understood as referring to a building or the activities that take place in the building, service (or ministry) is associated with tasks and functions within the community. But the Church is the body of Christ, which is called to permeate and to serve the world, in all areas of society.

This means that your ministry takes place not only within the community of the church, but also outside. God has a specific ministry for you where He has placed you, in your neighbourhood, your workplace, the clubs and organizations you belong to – wherever you are. He established you as a shepherd for people who do not yet know Him, so that you can take care of them, love them and allow them to find their way back to God. We all need to support each other in this. On our own, each one of us is just a stone, but together, we form a solid edifice for His glory.

Think for a moment about the people that God has placed around you who do not yet know Him. Those people are not there by chance. God put them there for you to be a blessing to them, so don’t hesitate to do what you can to show His love and to do good to them. You’ll be amazed at what will happen.

MY DECISION:

➤How this applies to my life:

➤My response to what I’ve learned:

➤ What you decide today will determine who and what you will become tomorrow!

Translation of an excerpt from Un disciple en marche by Luc Favre, published by Vie Victorieuse. All rights reserved.