Gregory E. Lang's Blog, page 13

Self-Control

Child of God, you cannot simply dismiss your bad behavior by saying, “That’s just how I am.” To do that is to be unapologetic for the hurt or embarrassment you may cause to others. May self-control be one of your defining traits. Self-control not only of your temper, but also your tongue. Be careful not to act or speak rashly, especially in anger. Under the influence of anger, you will be tempted to display conduct very different from God’s righteousness. If Christ is in you, then so too must be self-control.

You may not believe me at first, but you are able to control yourself. Self-control is a fruit of the spirit, a gift within each of us, but one that must be mastered. To master self-control, you must be aware of how you feel and think about what is on your mind. You must consider what the outcome will be if you were to express your raw emotions, say what is on your mind, or continue to think about someone with malice in your heart. If the outcome is likely something that God would condemn, put an immediate stop to the thoughts or feelings that are leading you astray.

Whenever you have doubts about whatever you are doing or considering, stop it immediately. Your doubt is the Holy Spirit reminding you to do only what is right in the sight of God. If you are about to choose what is not pleasing to him, he will give you a sense of restraint, one which you must heed. Stay alert; keep your senses sharp before God. The body is weak; guard against its temptation with prayer, relying on God’s strength and giving him praise for his power to bless you with self-control.

Self-indulgence disgraces the Lord, for it was his self-sacrifice that gave you the promise of life. It also discourages other Christians who may be weak in their faith and look to you as an encourager. Pursue what is right and acknowledge Christ with your unselfish conduct. If you know how to do the right thing and choose not to, your sin is greater because of your knowledge. But if you conquer temptation and give yourself entirely to God, he will work mightily in you. Be aware of temptation at all times, and always deny yourself selfish or dishonest gains.

Please, do not think yourself able to resist temptation and carelessly expose yourself to it. One cannot both indulge in the deeds of darkness and wear the armor of light. Light represents truth, knowledge, and holiness. Darkness represents ignorance, error, falsehood, and sin. Darkness will keep you from being a productive Christian. Unholy behavior thrives in darkness, but the children of God need no hiding place. Love the Lord and let his light shine through you as you master your thoughts and actions. May you never lose an opportunity to represent Christ well because of your lack of self-control. Amen!

The post Self-Control appeared first on Gregoryelang.

Endurance

Life is full of joy, but it includes pain and consequences, too. Remember that you are not yet in Heaven where all is perfect; rather, you are living in a broken world where trials and disappointment abound. Therefore, it is important that you understand that in this life, you are not destined for happiness or health but for holiness. Accept the consequences as they come without any complaints. Don’t wallow in self-pity. Instead, look to God to help you endure the pain and consequences of life while in this temporary, less-than-perfect world. Let God separate you from every affection and desire not grounded in him and his glory. After you have endured a few trials while trusting in the Lord, trials will trouble you less and less. You will have realized that God is more than enough.

How do you keep on going along the path of obedience to Christ, you might ask; how do you keep going month after month for years or decades when there are countless disappointments, obstacles, betrayals, and failures, even grief, in your journey? If you put your hope in the sovereign grace and power of God and not in your own strength, or in the approval of others, or in fleeting pleasures, or the praise of mere men, you will endure anything as your faith remains steadfast in Christ. He will not require anything of you for which he does not provide the necessary wisdom, strength, and guidance for your eventual victory. Because he is faithful, you must be faithful; you must endure hardship and keep your heart and mind open to his leading.

It is a painful and difficult lesson, but you must learn to take for good whatever God sends in your direction, however bitter to the taste and painful to the heart and bones it may be. He is trying to teach you something or is using you to teach something to someone else (it is a great honor to be used in such a way). Both are his praiseworthy prerogatives; submit to either objective. You know that all around you there are signs of evil and subversions of the truth. You must stand firm and look beyond these things to the Lord Jesus Christ. In the face of long-suffering or an experience of evil perpetrated against you, stick to your belief, a belief anchored not on the philosophy or opinions of man, but on the promises of God and his offer of salvation and delivery through the atoning work of Jesus Christ. The promises of God will help you to endure whatever may come.

Please remember this — in stubbornness, you refuse the Lord, but in submissiveness, you trust in him who is merciful and just. Do not love the world and its fickle promises and make your guilt and condemnation greater. But turn away from the world and its unholy allure and murmurs that your life is unfair and go to Christ with a broken and remorseful spirit, and you will be gladly received and restored.

Please be assured that God is not unjust; he will not forget your good deeds and the love you show him as you help your neighbors to endure as well. Continue in your enduring love of the Lord and service to your neighbors, demonstrating for others who suffer that they, too, may lay hold of the full assurance of hope found in Christ. I pray that your trials be few in number, that you endure them well, and you be reassured knowing a heavenly home without disappointments is your reward for what you may endure today. Amen.

The post Endurance appeared first on Gregoryelang.

Simplicity

Friend, do not overcomplicate your life. Avoid letting your mind become preoccupied with your circumstances, as this hinders your understanding of the will of God. Complications steal joy and bring frustration. A simple Christian life is a surrendered life — a life where temporary worldly pleasures have no power and hold over you but rather can be set aside in favor of rest, worship, and acts of service. Such simplicity offers moments for quiet meditation in which God may reveal himself to you. You are called to live a simple life, free from the distractions and excesses of the world. Only then will your focus be on God and his kingdom.

Please understand that the great enemy of simplicity is a hunger for this world. The Christian is the person to whom his relationship with God through Christ is his greatest love. If instead, you set your heart on having earthly possessions, uninterrupted happiness, constant pleasure, and luxurious comfort, you are quite vulnerable, for you might lose these temporary things at any moment. Such a person can easily be disappointed and desperately hurt. On the other hand, if you give to Jesus Christ the highest place of honor in your life, you are right with God, and nothing on Earth can take that away from you.

The life I wish for you is not a life where you relentlessly deny yourself of things that might bring you comfort and pleasure. Instead, I wish for you to live a life focused on what is truly important, not distracted or tempted by things that are of no eternal value. A simple Christian life is letting go of everything that might hinder your walk with God and opening your heart and mind to embrace God as your greatest treasure, freeing yourself to live a life of willful commitment and humble obedience to him. The pursuit of things, power, reputation, and applause will only hinder the enjoyment of a simple life centered on God.

Living a simple life will also enable you to be more in tune with the needs of others. When you simplify your life, and when you are less preoccupied with what you must do to maintain your complicated life, you become better able to see and respond to the needs of others. When living a simple life, you will become more open to serving others and living out the teachings of Jesus Christ. I assure you, busyness will rob you of this great pleasure. Remember, too, that a simple life is a less stressful life, and that is good for everyone you love.

I pray that you be blessed with the discernment to know what to deal with and what to leave alone, what to pursue and what not to pursue. May you learn to live each moment in his presence, giving yourself completely to him and the plans he has for you. May he be pleased with each and every day of your life as you learn to be satisfied with your daily bread, serving as an example to others that wealth, possessions, busyness, and constant striving do not always result in joy. Be content with leading a simple life. May it be so!

The post Simplicity appeared first on Gregoryelang.

Surrender

I urge you to surrender your will, your knowledge, your reason, your experience, your motives, your time, your treasure, your plans, your future, your desires, your comfort — your everything — to God. And not simply to God, but to God and his ways, his purpose, and his desire to bring you into a right relationship with himself. This is a challenging request, to be sure, but God is sovereign, and you are not. There is absolutely nothing that happens in the universe that is outside of God’s influence and authority. As King of kings and Lord of lords, God has no limitations. The sovereignty of God is not merely that God has the power and right to govern all things, including his creation, man (you), but that he does govern all things, always and without exception, in your life as well as in mine. Surrender to his authority, and all will be well for you.

Friend, do not love the world and its temporary distractions. Learn to be disinterested in the world and what it expects of you and concentrate instead on God. Love him more than yourself and his glory more than approval and praise for yourself. This requires you to hold his will in higher regard than your own. Nothing about the world can be enjoyed in its proper perspective until you lay down your will and surrender yourself completely to God. To surrender is to accept whatever God sends and do nothing to try to change it. Do not allow pride and ambition to keep you from becoming who God, in his mercy, designed you to be. Do not trust your own power or knowledge. Your aim should not be greatness but humility, to surrender completely, to become lowly rather than haughty in spirit, to be concerned only with how to glorify God.

Beloved, this is the confidence you have in approaching God: that if you ask for anything according to his will, he hears you. Submit yourself, then, to God. Come near to him, and he will come near to you. Do not be foolish, but understand and remember what the Lord’s will is, that you turn away from your own will, which, being of the flesh, will always lead you astray.

God graciously provided you and me with Jesus as the cure for our sins. It is best that you place complete confidence in him as your means for partaking in the eternal life to come, that blessed fellowship with God. Remember that God did not send his Son into the world to judge the world guilty, but to save the world through his willing sacrifice. Christ is the gift, which is sufficient evidence of God’s love for you. Submit yourself to Christ, then, and believe in his power to restore you to a right relationship with God. He who believes in the Son is not condemned. Those who believe in Jesus will receive God’s special love, and they shall never perish but shall be saved with everlasting salvation. It is good for you in every way to accept this truth, and surrender all, once and for all, to God, your Creator, and Jesus, your Savior.

I know it sounds odd to forego your own will, to lay your plans aside and rid yourself of all hunger for power and control. You will struggle over and over again to surrender completely, just as I do. But I promise you, the more you seek God’s will rather than your own, the better your life will be. I pray you learn to yield and that you do so with a joyful heart. May it be so!

The post Surrender appeared first on Gregoryelang.

Pride and Humility

Dear friend, one who is so loved and treasured, I know it would be easy for you to think too much of yourself. You are not alone; I wrestle with this shortcoming as well. Indeed, humility is not an easy sign of character to develop. It is a hard thing to master, but master it you must. To be humble is good in every situation. God does not want us to think too highly of ourselves. Instead, he wants us to think lowly and soundly of ourselves. The reason for this is he wants you to accept that humility is the right understanding of who you are before himself. Your humility before God is where you must start in your endeavors to develop this important trademark of a believer. You need to be humble before God and dependent on him, always seeking his will. To be humble before God means to recognize that you are not self-sufficient; rather, you depend on God for all that you need. All you have comes from him, for you can create nothing for yourself. I hope that by now this fact is well established in your understanding.

No one is perfect, not me, not even you. The pursuit of perfection is a tool the enemy uses to reduce you to a state of self-pity. When you focus on what you don’t have, you fail to recognize what you do have. When you are more occupied with achieving perfection than with appreciating how you have already been blessed, shortcomings, imperfections, and all, you may blame God for your circumstances rather than thank him as you should. God knows your defects and why he gave them to you. He did so that you would find peace in him, not the world nor in yourself, so that his glory would shine through in you just as he made you. Do not let yourself get caught up with thoughts that you need more, or that you must be more. Be satisfied in the perfection of Jesus’s love for you and the way in which God designed you. And thus satisfied, be bighearted and accepting of the weaknesses and imperfections of others.

Remember that true humility compels you to look after the interests of others before looking after your own interests. Humility never threatens, insults, or ridicules. Humility produces in you a kind and unassuming spirit, which is easy for others to befriend. Humility is not a weakness but a quiet strength rooted in self-control and deference. The goal of humility is not so much self-denial as it is self-restraint so that others might be lifted up and encouraged.

When pride and conceit arise within you, look quickly to Jesus for your example. Although he was from the highest place, Jesus spent time with the lowest of the low, showing that his mercy and grace are for all. Let there be harmony and a spirit of agreement wherever you go, for the way to secure grace more abundantly is to be humble before the Lord. Be humble with others, just as Jesus is with you. Swallow your pride and do not point out your humble nature, for even that would be to brag. Every hint of pride must be cast aside. Always be humble, looking to the interests of others, and you will abound in loving, wholesome friendship with everyone.

I heard of a man who claimed to have disciplined himself so well that he had achieved a life without sin. I suppose he had forgotten that self-righteousness is a deadly form of pride and among the worst sins. I pray that your heart would fill with humility, and that you would love and honor God in a meek and grateful spirit. Amen.

The post Pride and Humility appeared first on Gregoryelang.

Knowledge and Wisdom

Knowledge is its own temptation, so do not seek knowledge only to lift yourself up. Too much reasoning is a great hindrance to the nurturing of a spiritual life, for it always leads to pride in oneself. It is far better to feed spiritual hunger than intellectual curiosity. God tells us to be still and know that he is God. He teaches us that with much human wisdom comes much sorrow, and with more worldly knowledge, more grief. Christ tells us we are to receive the kingdom of God like a little child, with wide-eyed wonder, joy, and gratitude. This is true wisdom. It is wise to trust God and enjoy your life as he unfolds it for you than to pursue wisdom for selfish gain, especially if your hope is to add to your life anything other than more of God. It is better to reason less and be happy and do good while we are alive, for you cannot know the number of your days. You cannot add an hour to your life with human knowledge and wisdom.

Yet, righteous wisdom is a valuable trait that is highly prized in the Christian faith. It is the ability to understand and apply righteous knowledge in a way that benefits yourself and others. Righteous wisdom is more valuable than any material possession. It will guide you to make good decisions and live a fulfilling life. Righteous wisdom comes from God; through studying the Bible, seeking guidance in prayer, and seeking the advice of spiritually mature people, we gain righteous wisdom. Ask God for his wisdom in any situation, and he will provide it to you.

Take great care that your wisdom is not boastful. No matter your well-meaning, if your wisdom is laced with bragging, whether about your intellectual accomplishments in this world or your own superior morality, no one will happily listen. All ears become shut off to you because no one wants to be an audience to your uprightness and self-righteousness. You must always take a humble position in every situation and only share wisdom as a lowly one grateful to have learned a necessary lesson. Only then can you give credit to God for the heavenly knowledge and wisdom with which he has blessed you.

Always remember that the foolishness of God is wiser than your wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than your strength. If you rely on your own wisdom in all things, you fail to seek the will of God. If you seek the will of God, you will have divine wisdom in your thinking and peace in your heart. In all matters, ask Christ to go with you and bless you in what you are about to undertake.

I remind you that God says to be still. There is a reason for this instruction. Heavenly knowledge and wisdom are the products of insightful reflection. Pause, number your blessings, consider what the Lord has done for you in both a temporal and eternal perspective, and become wise in the ways he would have you live. Child of God, examine your thoughts, words, and deeds often, and take the necessary steps to align yourself in a proper relationship with Christ. Do not compare yourself to what others are able to articulate or do, but instead strive to please God alone in all that you do. This is the wisdom that matters.  

Yes, my friend, humble and unassuming wisdom will allow you to make good decisions, live a fulfilling life, understand the world and people around you, and, more importantly, know the will of God for your life. It is something that, if nourished properly, is constantly developing, and it is a character trait that you should hope to acquire. It is indeed the highest wisdom to want and try to live according to the will of God. I pray for you that this is the wisdom you desire. May it be so!

The post Knowledge and Wisdom appeared first on Gregoryelang.

Obedience

Friend, a trait we have in common is our desire to choose our own way, to be the director of the movie in which we are the star. But to obey God, we must step down from the director’s chair and permit him to take his rightful place in our lives as our sovereign Lord. Let us encourage one another in this way. We must strive to faithfully obey the Lord. I know that submission to authority is contrary to your nature. Nonetheless, submission is required of you, and for a very good reason. Your outward obedience to Christian precepts is proof to the world of your trust in Jesus, and your inward strivings to please the Lord in all you do is the beginning of discovering God’s will for your life.

Your outward obedience to Christian precepts is going to be a much easier task for you. God’s precepts are well-known in the Word and firmly established in the traditions of the church. You will find your open display of obedience less challenging as you spend time in the Word and permit Scripture to inform and motivate you. Fellowship with other Christians furthers your compliance, as good company begets good conduct in you. Christian obedience is the act of submitting to the will of God, your Creator, and your highest authority. If you have faith, obedience should become the daily practice of living by faith, obeying the teachings of the Bible, believing they are the guidestones that lead you to a more fulfilling life. To be truly obedient, you must remain in a proper relationship with Christ, acknowledging him as your Savior through grace alone — that you did nothing of merit sufficient to save yourself. Faith in Christ and gratitude for what he accomplished for you produces the power that leads to obedience. And this power is also not of yourself, but of the Holy Spirit, the helper Jesus promised for each of us. The more you strive to be obedient, the more your life becomes guided by the Holy Spirit. As your helper, he will not lead you astray. If you are willing to trust and obey God and try to live a holy life, he will reveal himself to you and direct your steps through the prompting of the Holy Spirit. This is the second form of obedience that is required of you, submission to God’s private and unique conversations delivered directly to you. You may call it your conscience, but I believe it is the Holy Spirit prompting you to discern God’s will for you, and then urging you to obey.

Living in obedience to God in all things, even the seemingly inconsequential details of day-to-day living, reveals your love and respect for him. Obedience is actually in itself a form of worship, acknowledging who God is and accepting your responsibility in relation to him. Remember, too, that every command God will make of you isn’t always only for his sake but for yours as well. The call to obedience is for your benefit because he knows what is best for you.

Through his sacrifice on the cross, Jesus took away our just punishment and laid a new obligation to obedience upon us. All he asks in return is that we obey the new law: to love one another. That grace has taken the place of the old law does not mean that disobedience has replaced obedience. If we accept Jesus as our Savior, we must also accept him as our King to rule over us and, in doing so, reveal the moral characteristic of the life of Christ thriving within us. A disobedient life shows there is neither gratitude nor humility within you.

Friend, do not take salvation for granted and act as though you are unchanged. Train yourself to be godly, obey the Word, and rise above your nature, demonstrating your renewal so that others may wish to follow your example. Obedience to God is the sign of your sheer delight and joyful thankfulness for your salvation. You are to rid yourself of your former way of life and put on a new self, one created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Do not live the rest of your life for unholy desires, but rather for the will of God. If you are guided by the Holy Spirit, you will not obey the lusts of the flesh and temptations of evil. Act like Jesus and find yourself satisfied in higher and long-lasting ways.

To live by faith includes the discipline of prayer, commonly going to God in thanksgiving and requests. When you know that you are struggling to become or remain obedient, pray for guidance and inspiration; ask for self-control so that you may obey rather than rebel. Prayer itself is a form of obedience, for Scripture tells you to humble yourself and pray. And when a righteous person, a true believer committed to Christ, by his striving to live for God with increasing obedience presents a fervent prayer, it avails much.  The more you depend on God, the more obedient you must be. He loves you and wants only what is best for you. And when you love him in return and walk faithfully with him, obeying from the heart all his commandments, good blessing will indeed come to you. Love God, your Father, your Christ, and your Helper; and obey him with a thankful heart. Amen.

The post Obedience appeared first on Gregoryelang.

Faith

What is faith? Faith is an invisible thing. Christians live by faith, not by sight. Faith is not simply an emotion or thought process but is an unwavering confidence built on the knowledge and belief that God is who he says he is. Faith is throwing yourself with abandon at the foot of the cross and believing everything remarkable that was accomplished there. Friend, if your faith is dependent on what you can see and understand, it is built on a very weak foundation. You might think it unreal if you can’t see it, smell it, taste it, or touch it. But if you have true faith, you can sense it. What does it feel like? It feels like the complete absence of worry and the reassuring fullness of the comfort of peace. Faith feels like this because, as a believer, you know that death is not your end; instead, it is your transition to being in the presence of God. Those who believe in what they cannot see shall inherit an everlasting life. This is why it is so important that you have faith!

Faith is believing that God loves you and will provide for you and fulfill all the promises he has made to you. When you stop counting on yourself and begin to believe God is in control of all things, you will have arrived at that blessed place of surrender where you will experience an immeasurable calm, even relief from the weight of worldly burdens and cares. Have faith enough to trust yourself completely in the hands of God, follow him wherever he may lead, and your steps will be sure for they will be guided by your faith in his goodness.

Do not be discouraged if your faith falters. Diminished faith does not mean that you have lost your faith, only that you are undergoing a trial that challenges your beliefs. Perhaps you think a prayer has not been answered, or your heart has been shattered with bitter disappointment, or worse, a painful loss. Do not think God is punishing you; he is not. He weeps with you. You live in a broken world that cannot provide for you what can only be found in Heaven. Expect brokenness in a broken world, and pain in brokenness. These are the times when you need God’s comfort most. Trust him to lead you through the brokenness and believe that there is no disappointment in your heavenly home. Without faith it is impossible to have a right relationship with God, so ask him to increase your faith during all challenging times, and he will do it.

Friend, do not forget that faith is meant to be shared with others. You must make your thankful thoughts and sensation of inner peace known through speaking of it to others. The business of the church is not only to save but to enlighten. Christ is the light, and his disciples must also be light. It is not a life of good works, but one work that is required, and that is to have a faith that would enable you to rely on Christ and, from such faith, to lead a Christ-like life. To fit in with the crowd is to miss an opportunity to be an example of Jesus and show his goodness and mercy to anyone watching you. Always reveal your faith in Christ with your words as well as your good and selfless deeds. May your faith increase with each new day! Amen.

The post Faith appeared first on Gregoryelang.

Prayer

My friend, remember the times we kneeled to pray. We pray because we believe our Father listens. Prayer is the way in which the life of a Christian is nourished. Talk with God, be yourself before him, and let him commune with you. Let your prayers be a daily habit. Let them be simple in nature and rooted in your heart. Too much thinking about your prayers will only lead you to produce clanging sounds that are harsh in God’s ears. Don’t try to impress him with refined words, memorized verses, and eloquent recitations. Just be you. Just tell him what worries you. Tell him what you need. Ask that his will be done and then be satisfied that he heard you and will respond in due time. Remember, his timing is divine, and yours is not, so it should not be a surprise to you if he does not give you precisely what you want when you want it. When that is the case, be patient. Often, what is refined in you while you are waiting is the best answer to your prayers.

In Jesus Christ, go boldly to God with your prayers. And do not simply pray for favor and things, but pray for others. Pray that you and those you love will be drawn closer to God, and pray for unpleasant circumstances to change so that God’s glory may shine through. Remember that while on the cross, Jesus prayed for his enemies; he was clear about his desire and command that we, too, should pray for others as he did. What more extraordinary display of love for your neighbor and brother is there than to bow and pray for him? It pleases the Lord when we pray for others, so do so often. Very often.

In prayer is the best way to spend time alone with God. It is when you are alone with him that you are free from distraction and temptation to impress with your actions and words. There are times for public and corporate prayer, and there are times for private prayer. Kneel often and be sincere with your Lord. Make private time with him so that you can go before him and speak without hesitation or shame about what you need or what hurts you the most.

Friend, pray continually, on all occasions, and with all kinds of prayers and requests, for the Lord is faithful. And as you draw nearer to him, he will strengthen and protect you, growing you in righteousness and enriching you with blessings. Daily prayer strengthens your walk with Christ, increasing your endurance for his sake. Pray kneeling, standing, as you sink into your pillow, and even when driving or pushing a grocery cart. Your prayer ritual is unimportant; it is that you pray often and with sincerity that matters most. Most of all, pray with thanksgiving, for you should always be thankful that you can speak directly to God. Amen.

The post Prayer appeared first on Gregoryelang.

Love

Oh, friend, how much I love you as a companion in Christ! I love others as well, and so too must you. Take joy in those you love. But remember, where it is easy to love the loveable, it is more righteous to love the difficult to love. True love is more than tender feelings and emotional rewards; it is a decision. Yes, it is a decision to love even when it is difficult to do so. You should make up your mind to love regardless of your feelings. Only then can your love become greater for another than it is for yourself. Above all, love God no matter what you must endure in the world. The knowledge that God loves you beyond measure and does so unconditionally should compel you to go into the world to love others in the same way.

Take great care not to befriend only those who are advantageous to you. Christ died not only for his friends but his enemies as well because he loved them so much. By loving all others, you continue Christ’s work of sharing grace and the hope of everlasting life. By loving all others, it is easy to pray that everyone would know Jesus and be bound for Heaven. Remember, Jesus dined with and cared for the outcast instead of limiting himself only to the company of great men. You should do the same.

You cannot profess to follow Christ unless you love all those for whom Christ died. We were instructed to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. Love others so well that there will be kindness and mutual acts of service between you. You may commit acts of charity and kindness, but unless your acts are motivated by love, your good deeds mean nothing in the eyes of the Lord. It is in your love for your neighbor that you continue Christ’s work of spreading the hope of salvation and everlasting life. All relationships are made perfect if filled with love but are worthless without it. Love everyone without hesitation, all for God’s greater glory, and much love will be returned to you.

God willing, one day, you may be a parent. Unreasonable scolding, hurtful language, or cruel punishment brings about resentment in children, making you ineffective in the Christian training of children. Love them as Jesus loved them — with patience, kindness, protection, trust, and hope, always keeping them from becoming discouraged. This is the way in which your Lord loves you; follow his example. Treat the little ones with generous love.

Lastly, Christ suffered the punishment of our sins so that we might be reconciled with God. All he asks in return is that we obey the new law: to love one another. Love is compassionate and kind, not harmful. Don’t let the fact that you were treated wrongly cause you to commit another wrong. Instead, overcome evil with love, mercy, and restraint. May you always love with abandon, for you will always be loved in never-ending abundance. Amen.

The post Love appeared first on Gregoryelang.