My reflections yesterday on 1 Corinthians 13 seem to fit the message of Together ,Day 4.
Carson believes:
We should surrender ourselves to God, concerning both worldly and spiritual matters, and find our satisfaction solely in doing His will. Whether He guides us through hardship or comfort, it would all be the same to a truly surrendered soul.
I would like to share something from my private reflections that reflects I am grappling with exactly that truth.
1 Corinthians 13.
It’s not in great gifting’s that grants us status in God’s kingdom. It’s in loving.
If we love, we suffer. Love suffers long. That jumps off the page at me. It’s weighty!
You are a happy God, but You suffer. Surely You weep with Your people in Israel and throughout the world. Your chosen people still do not recognize You for who You are, and there are countless members of Your body that have not found a place of belonging in Your church. The factions in Corinth are not unlike the factions in our own day, though they may be around different issues.
If I pray You would teach me to love, I understand it’s a call to share in the sufferings of Christ. Paul understood this. For much of my life I have simply been too naive, too idealistic.
Love is to pray the Lord’s prayer. What is this prayer that Jesus taught his disciples to pray? It’s a prayer of love: that we would love God supremely, and that we would love others as we love ourselves. It’s a prayer that we would bear with one another, forgiving one another.
I’m an adult in years, but childlike in my emotions and thinking so often. A child seeks pleasure and abhors pain. I’m only learning now to endure pain and discomfort. My outer body is declining in energy, yet I am learning to suffer, for I am learning to bear misunderstanding, belittlement and rejection. My Saviour embraced such realities for the greater good that the Father would accomplish. As co-equal with God, Christ yet labours at the throne of grace, praying for His people to be faithful to God despite the opposition of principalities and powers, rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.(Ephesians 6) they are a defeated foe, so we fight to be holy from a place of security. Death has been defeated. Soon we will see Him whom we love- face to face, not as in a mirror. Soon we will know You in fuller measure, even as You know us.
I wonder what life in the age to come will be like. What will it be like to learn of infinite grace, infinite mercy, infinite power, infinite goodness, to worship for infinite ages, for You to be everything to us and for us? What will we experience in the way of relationships, when we will be given authority to judge angels? How will we be equipped for such a task?
Pursue love. Desire spiritual gifts- particularly that you may bring the Word of God to others.(1 Cor 14:1) Oh, that I may walk with You and talk with You along life’s narrow way. Yes, Father, let it be. Transform me from the inside out, that You may grant to me holy desires, so that I may pursue love. Then You may be able to see Your reflection in my life, for it was for this I was created!