Colin S. Smith's Blog, page 24

Spiritual Pride Goes Before the Believer’s Fall

I wonder if you have encountered a biblical figure that leaves you scratching your head. Perhaps there is a person in the Old or New Testament narrative who you would say is foolish in a way you would never be. For me, that person was Samson. I simply could not conceive of how he could get himself into such a bind.

When reading the story of Samson, I would white-knuckle my way through Delilah’s repeated appeals for him to reveal the secret of his strength, knowing she planned to turn him over to the Philistines at her first opportunity. If I could watch that episode of Samson’s life as a sporting event, I would be the armchair quarterback screaming, “Samson! How blind can you be? This woman doesn’t care about you. She’s playing you, and she isn’t being subtle about it. Run for your life!”

Samson’s foolishness was painfully obvious, yet he did not have eyes to see impending danger. As I have journeyed further in my Christian walk, I have come to understand that I am not so different from Samson after all. Just like him, I have underestimated sin’s power and overestimated my strength.

God set Samson apart to accomplish his purposes. He gave Samson supernatural strength to deliver God’s people from their enemies. God specifically instructed Samson never to cut his hair. It wasn’t that Samson’s hair had any power in and of itself, but it signified God’s special blessing on Samson’s life.

Samson single-handedly tore a lion limb from limb, and the book of Judges tells us he struck down a thousand men in one go. Neither ferocious beasts nor armies of men could defeat him. Samson seemed invincible, but we are never so vulnerable as when we think ourselves strong.

Spiritual Pride is Sin

 

Sin exploits our vulnerabilities, and this is made all the easier when our guard is down. As Christians, we are in particular danger when we begin to think that our spiritual maturity makes us invincible to specific temptations and sin. When we become Christians, we start to experience victories over sin. This is evidence of the Holy Spirit’s power in our lives. As we continue to grow in our walk with the Lord, we may be encouraged at how far the Lord has brought us from the people we once were.

But our spiritual growth can make us uniquely susceptible to the sin of spiritual pride. When spiritual pride takes up residence in our hearts, we begin to think we are stronger than we are. We begin to think that perhaps there are some temptations worth entertaining, because they are interesting, if not compelling. And of course, we presume that our spiritual maturity will enable us to walk away before we are in any real danger. We forget that the devil is crafty, the world is relentless, and the appetite of the flesh is insatiable.

For Samson, foreign women were a particular vulnerability. Samson defied the Lord by becoming entangled with them. Delilah was the third of such women to come into Samson’s life, and he fell hard for her. When Delilah pressed Samson for the secret of his strength, she made no bones about her intentions to turn him over to his enemies, but Samson chose to remain in her company. This is what caused my incredulity about Samson. I couldn’t understand him because I didn’t appreciate the effects sin had on his ability to think clearly. I was missing the fact that sin can make a person stupid.

Sinners Drift and Defy

The deeper we sink into sin, the more clouded our judgment becomes and the farther we drift from the Lord. The book of Judges tells us that Samson was “vexed to death” trying to decide whether to tell Delilah the truth about his strength, yet at no time did he consult the Lord. Samson thought he could handle the situation on his own. We read that after Samson told Delilah the real secret of his strength, he said, “’I will go out as at other times and shake myself free.’ But he did not know that the Lord had left him” (Judg. 16:22).

The Lord loves his children and is exceedingly patient and kind to us, but when we insist on our own way, we choose to move outside the Lord’s protection and open ourselves up to the often devastating consequences of our choices. When Delilah called in the Philistines, they seized Samson, gouged out his eyes, and put him in prison to grind at a mill. This illustrates well the effects of sin on a life—it blinds and enslaves us.

When we linger, instead of fleeing from temptation, we defy God’s wisdom. When we make allowance for sin and assume we will have the strength to resist its ever-increasing demands in our own strength, destruction is not far off.

Sinners Need Deliverance

Samson’s failings made it clear that not only God’s people needed a better deliverer, but so did Samson himself. The ability to defeat human enemies would not be enough. We are all in need of someone who can defeat the enemy of our souls. That better deliverer is Jesus Christ, who chose to set aside his strength and take the ultimate consequence of our sin upon himself. When Jesus went to the cross and died, everything changed. Before we became Christians, sin was our master. We were blind and enslaved to sin. But when Jesus Christ rose from the grave, sin and death lost their power forever. “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery” (Gal. 5:1).

If you are a follower of Christ, he will not let you go! He will allow what is necessary, so that you will again come to see the goodness of the Lord and pursue a right relationship with him. Sin will not have the final word, because it is no longer our master. If we choose to turn our backs on the Lord and his call on our lives, he will not obligate us to follow him. But even when we wander and the Lord seems to have left us to our own devices, he longs for our return.

Sinners Can Be Faithful

Samson, despite his grave failings, is remembered in the book of Hebrews, not for his failures, but as a man of faith. He is mentioned among those who “through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions” (Heb. 11:33). The Lord sought to rekindle his relationship with Samson. We read that Samson’s hair began to grow again and Samson cried to the Lord to restore his strength for a final time, so that he might be avenged.

When we, as Christians, find ourselves defeated by sin, know that not all is lost, for our “Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love” (Ps. 145:8). If we will turn from our sin and seek the Lord once again, he is only too glad to deliver us from all manner of spiritual pride, and use our failures to strengthen our faith for our good and his glory.

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Photo: Picryl, sourced from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Public Domain.

Overcoming Evil With Generosity

Love overcomes evil by doing good, and one of the marks of genuine love is that it is generous.

Paul spells out what this looks like in Romans 12:9-21:

Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.

Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep
(Romans 12:13-15).

Generosity is seen when we open our home to others, or help to alleviate their needs. It is shown when we share the joys and sorrows of others, but most of all, it is on put on display when we choose to bless those who have hurt us.

Blessing someone who has hurt you doesn’t come naturally. When someone brings pain into your life, you will be tempted to focus on the injustice of what they have done. You will be tempted to brood over what you have lost, like Jonah who was angry when the plant that had given him shade was taken away. But God calls us to something better.

Generous people give more than is needed or expected. They give when kindness is not deserved and where it may never be returned. And God calls us to this because this is how He has dealt with us.

So how can we grow in generosity, and show kindness towards those who have hurt us?

1. Reflect on the example of Jesus.

One wound leads to another in our culture, and we become more and more divided. It is “an eye for an eye until the whole world goes blind” as Gandhi once said.

But Jesus was different. When the soldiers nailed our Lord to the cross, He did not curse them.

When He was reviled, He did not revile in return (1 Pet. 2:23).

Jesus sought the good of those who brought Him pain. He prayed, “Father, forgive them, they do not know what they are doing” (Lk. 23:34, NIV).

And Peter makes it clear that Jesus’ generosity towards those who wounded Him is an example for us to follow.

“For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in His steps,” (1 Pet. 2:20-21).

2. Consider the position of the person who has hurt you

Jesus prayed, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). That tells us something about the spiritual condition of those who were persecuting Him. They were spiritually blind. They did not know because they could not see.

Robert Candlish1 points out that when a wrong is done to you, you can respond in one of two ways. One is to brood on the offense. But if you do that, your heart will soon become hard. A better way is to put yourself in the shoes of the person who has hurt you, and ask yourself:

• What would my life have been like if his/her story had been mine?
• What would I be like if I had experienced what he/she has endured?
• What if I was estranged from the knowledge of the love of God as he or she may be?

When Jonah was resentful towards the rebellious city of Nineveh, God said to him, “Should not I pity Nineveh?” (Jonah 4:11). Nineveh was a city of 120,000 people, and God said they “do not know their right hand from their left.”

The Ninevites had sinned to the point where they no longer knew the difference between right and wrong. To them evil had become good and good had become evil. That’s a tragic condition. It doesn’t call for anger, but for pity and compassion. “Jonah, when you see a their true spiritual condition, you will feel sorry for them!” In the same way, when you see the position of a person who doesn’t know what they are doing, you will have compassion, and compassion gives birth to generosity.

3. Remember how God has dealt with you.

While we were still sinners Christ died for us (Rom. 5:8). While we were still hostile to Him, God loved us (Rom. 8:7). While we were still God’s enemies He reconciled us to Himself in Christ (Rom. 5:10).

Generosity towards those who hurt us lies at the heart of the gospel, and it can have surprising results. God’s kindness led us to repentance (Romans 2:4), and your kindness towards someone who has hurt you may have the same effect

Our missions pastor, Brad Mullet, told me the story of Dusan, a believer he met on a recent trip. Dusan is Serbian but he grew up in Croatia where his family had lived and worked peaceably for years. But when war broke out in 1991, Serbians living in Croatia were rounded up and imprisoned.

After some weeks, Croatia agreed to repatriate about 250,000 Serbs who were being held within their borders. Dusan, at the age of 9, was put on a bus to go to Serbia with his mother and other siblings along with other children and their mothers. Fathers and older sons remained in prison in Croatia.

So Dusan boarded the bus, leaving his home with just one bag of personal possessions.

The journey was long, and when they finally stopped, Dusan charged off the bus. Thinking that they were in Serbia, he started shouting Serbian chants and yelling curses against Croatians. “I did this as only a zealous nine-year-old sinner could do.” Dusan said.

Dusan’s mother sprinted off the bus behind him and, when she caught up with him, clapped her hand over his mouth. “Be quiet! We’re still in Croatia!” she said.

Right then, Dusan noticed the squad of Croatian soldiers around them. The soldiers had heard him shouting and cursing, and one of them walked toward him. “Is this your son?” he asked Dusan’s mother. The mother was so afraid, she couldn’t utter a word. She just stood there with her head down, holding on to her son. The soldier told them to stay where they were, surrounded by Croatian army, and said he would be back.

After some time, he returned carrying a box. “It’s a long journey,” he said to Dusan. Here is something to eat and drink.” When Dusan opened the box, he found that it was full of treats and snacks.

Years later, when Dusan heard the gospel, he remembered the kindness of the Croatian soldier. “Here’s what the gospel is like,” he said. “It’s like I came running off the bus, shouting obscenities against God, clearly his enemy and clearly powerless, and God responded with a gift!”

And what a gift! The Son of God loved us and gave himself for us. (Galatians 2:20)

God overcomes evil with generosity and He calls us, by the power of His Spirit, to deal with others as He has dealt with us.

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This article is adapted from Pastor Colin’s sermon, “Overcoming Evil with Generosity,” from his series, Overcoming Evil.

1. Robert Candlish, Studies in Romans 12 (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 1989), 244.

Photo: Unsplash

The Truth Can Set You Free from Uncertainty

Last month, graduates walked across their virtual Zoom stages to end a significant chapter in their lives and step into the unknown. It clearly wasn’t how they dreamed this day would happen, but the emotions that came with this year’s graduation were no less significant. The closing of chapters and marking of milestones usually cause a complex flood of feelings—excitement, accomplishment, sentimentality, opportunity, fear, and no small measure of uncertainty.

Graduates aren’t the only ones who can’t predict the future. A global pandemic has created queries for all of us in one uncomfortable way or another. Will my job be eliminated? How will we pay rent this month? Will I catch the virus? How can we be the Church in a quarantine? Will my kids go back to school in the fall? When will things become normal again?

How can Christians faithfully navigate uncertainty? The truth of God’s Word offers freedom for those who feel trapped by cancelled plans and their inability to anticipate the future. Whatever the specific causes of our insecurity, the Bible gives us sure hope.

Three Certain Truths for Uncertain Times

 

1. What feels uncertain to us is certainly planned by God.

Abraham knew a little bit about uncertainty. In Genesis 12:1 the Lord said to him,

Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.

Go to the land I will show you? Really? Abraham was called to leave everything he’d ever known and go somewhere God hadn’t yet revealed? Talk about ambiguity! It’s one thing to head off to your chosen college after graduation, ready to start a new chapter. But God’s command to Abraham would be like telling a graduate to pack up the car in August and start driving to a college that God would reveal along the way.

Abraham was obedient, but he didn’t know where he was going or what would happen along the way. However, God knew all along where he would take Abraham. In fact, God had a broader, sovereign plan to call a people to himself and to produce this blessing, in part, through the means of Abraham’s obedience. God’s sovereignty was secure, and Abraham’s uncertainty was only a felt unknown. In actuality, God’s sovereignty is always sound, and his plans are always good. Abraham’s story is a great affirmation of Proverbs 3:5-6: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”

You may be facing the uncertainty of a new life stage, job loss, or illness. You are likely wondering what God has planned for your future. Thankfully, what feels overwhelmingly unknown to you right now is fully known to God. He can make straight what you perceive to be a crooked path. If you are his child, you are kept securely in his sovereign plan of redemption through Christ. Your task is simply to trust in his ways instead of leaning on your own understanding.

2. God is more concerned with the softness of our hearts than the specifics of our plans.

Jesus’ disciples knew something about uncertainty. In Matthew 10:16-19 Jesus told them:

Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles. When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour.

Jesus sent them out, two-by-two, to make disciples by proclaiming the gospel message. He instructed them to take no money, no extra clothes, and no bag in which to carry anything they could possibly acquire on the journey. He told them to expect rejection—even flogging, for the sake of Christ. Talk about uncertainty! Yet, Jesus was far less concerned with his disciples’ plans or skills than he was with the position of their hearts. Though the disciples may have felt anxious and afraid, Jesus used the unknowns to teach them to humbly trust God and to willingly do his work, regardless of how it was received by others. Like Abraham, the disciples followed in faith, trusting Jesus to equip them for the task to which he had called them.

Like Jesus’ disciples, we can easily be consumed by trying to figure out the future. Our anxiety and fear can cause us to miss the opportunity to depend on God in the present. God is less concerned with the specifics of where we go and what we do; he is more concerned that our hearts are soft toward him and that our faith is increasing in the process. If you find yourself facing massive question marks about the present or future, know that God wants you to run to him, trust him, and glorify him wherever you are and whatever you are doing.

3. God promises to use our uncertain days for his good purposes.

Paul knew a quite a lot about uncertainty. In Romans 8:28, Paul wrote:

And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

Paul’s missionary journeys are dizzying to follow. He endured every kind of trial and persecution imaginable. Yet he said, “I am ready not only to be imprisoned, but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus” (Acts 21:13). How could Paul so fearlessly face his uncertain future? Paul saw the big picture. He knew that loving and belonging to Jesus was of supreme value; therefore, he was willing to obey him no matter what difficulties might come with that commitment. Since he trusted the certainty of God’s character, Paul was able to embrace the unknown with full confidence that “all things work together for good” (Rom. 8:28). Through Paul’s obedience, the gospel went forth to the nations and the church took root.

Like Paul, we can be freed from fear and able to embrace change. We do this by believing the truth of God’s Word—that God will use our risk-filled days for good. Believers will experience the blessing of loving and serving God as we trust that he has a good purpose for our own lives.

Months into a global pandemic, none of us know how the future will unfold. It is easy to be gripped by fear and held captive by doubt. Yet, we can be confident that God is still sovereign. God wants to use the inconstancy of our circumstances to mold our hearts. While we don’t have the privilege of knowing all of God’s purposes, we can trust his unwavering character. These truths foster freedom from fear and bring certain hope in uncertain times.

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Photo: Unsplash

Those Who Grieve Need to Speak. Are You Ready to Listen?

It is hard to talk about loss. And it can be hard to listen when a person speaks about grief. But God has called His people to grieve together.

Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep (Rom. 12:15).

Lamentations gives us a picture of what it means for grieving people to speak and for others to listen. The entire book is a sustained outpouring of sorrow in which the painful details of all that has happened, and all that was lost, are poured out again and again.

If you read Lamentations from beginning to end, you will be struck by the repetition. Grief is like that. It is not linear. It circles back over the same ground. Every detail of what has happened is rehearsed.

A grieving person will often want to talk about the smallest detail of their loss. Imagine a priceless vase or ornament that is dropped on the floor and smashed to pieces. The woman who loved it kneels down and picks up the pieces one by one. She looks at each one in detail, turning it around, as if to remember where it once belonged. When you listen to a grieving person, you may feel that the detail they are telling you is small. But it is part of something supremely valued and dearly loved.

Be Quick to Listen!

Donald Howard writes on the importance of listening to those who grieve:

Let the bereaved speak. Statements such as ‘You must often think of the time when you did such and such together…’ are ways of initiating discussion.1

In reality, the opposite often happens. A widow is talking with friends and one of them remembers a funny story about her husband. But he holds back from telling it out of consideration for the widow. Had he told the story, the widow would probably have laughed; perhaps there would have been a tear in her eyes, but she would have thought it wonderful that her husband was still remembered.

Those who grieve wonder: Does anyone else remember? Does anyone else care? So, don’t be afraid to speak about someone who has died to a person who loves them. You can bring comfort to a grieving person by helping to keep the memory of their loved one alive.

Talk—Don’t Hold Back!

There are two sides to weeping with those who weep. First, there must be brothers and sisters in Christ who are ready to listen. And second, the one who grieves must be ready to allow some brothers or sisters into their sorrow.

That isn’t easy. Your first instinct in grief may be to put on a brave face and determine to do your weeping on your own. But that’s not what we find in Lamentations.

God calls your brothers and sisters to weep with you. So with whom will you share your tears? Who will you allow to share in your sorrow and loss?

Wise people choose carefully with whom they share their deepest thoughts. Some are better able to listen than others. Some have deeper compassion than others. And those who have walked the valley of sorrow will be able to relate to your loss in a deeper way than others who have yet to pass through it.

Learn more about Pastor Colin’s book, For All Who Grieve

But it is never God’s purpose for any of His children to grieve alone. God has called your brothers and sisters in Christ to weep with you. So allow others into your grief, sorrow, and loss.

One writer tells the story of G. K. Chesterton, whose sister Beatrice died at the age of eight. Chesterton’s father responded by “turning Beatrice’s picture to the wall, getting rid of all her possessions, and forbidding anyone to mention her name.” 2

Thankfully, our culture today is much more in touch with the importance of speaking about pain and loss. But a grieving person can only speak about their pain and loss if other people are ready to listen. There are two sides to every story.

You Can Talk to Jesus About Your Loss

There are many wonderful statements in the Bible of why Jesus Christ came into the world. In one of them the Messiah says, “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to… bind up the brokenhearted… to comfort all who mourn… that they may be called oaks of righteousness” (Isa. 61:1-3). Christ came into the world so that you may be able to stand and endure through your grief like an oak tree. He came so that you would not be destroyed by it.

Our Lord knows all about sorrow and He is well acquainted with grief (Isa. 53:3). In the Garden of Gethsemane, He said, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow” (Mat. 26:38 NIV). When your soul is overwhelmed with sorrow, remember that your Savior has been there. Jesus knows what it is to weep.

And Jesus is the Savior with whom you can talk. You can’t talk to your loved one who has died because there is a great gulf between this world and the next. But if your loved one was in Christ, he or she is with the Savior, and you can talk to the Savior about your loved one who is now in His house. You can tell the Lord how much you miss him. You can tell the Lord how much you love her. And you can do this knowing that he or she is very close to the One with whom you are speaking.

The Savior knows what it is to walk sorrow’s path. When you pass through the valley of sorrow and loss, you are in a place where Christ can be found. And any path on which you come closer to Jesus will be blessed, even if it is a path you would never have chosen to walk.

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This article is an adaptation of Pastor Colin’s sermon, “Tears and Talk,” from his series For All Who Grieve: Light and Hope in Lamentations.

1. Donald Howard, Christians Grieve Too (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1980), 25.

2. Peter Barnes, “The Loss of a Child,” Banner of Truth: Issue #292, January 1988, 17.

Photo: Unsplash

Craving Control in the Wilderness

After many years of diverse career experience, I was excitedly counting down the days until my retirement. I eagerly anticipated being in control of my schedule and time while enjoying a slower pace of life. I envisioned more days devoted to serving in ministry at my church and deepening relationships with family and friends, and I prayed for the Lord to prepare me for these opportune times. And while he did answer that prayer, the opportunities he provided were not the ones for which I had hoped. Instead, the Lord thrust me into a very painful and difficult “wilderness” season during which I sometimes wondered how I would survive.

Though not a physical place, this wilderness was a period of time that felt wild, dark, and scary due to the uncomfortable trials that God allowed in my life. It was not the peaceful “promised land” of retirement that I had imagined. I identified with the Israelites, who entered unfamiliar territory after being miraculously delivered by God from the Egyptians. They were not immediately brought to the Promised Land but spent forty years in the wilderness.

When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near. For God said, “Lest the people change their minds when they see war and return to Egypt.” But God led the people around by the way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea. And the people of Israel went up out of the land of Egypt equipped for battle (Ex. 13:17-18).

God used a wilderness detour to teach his people, and the same was true for me. In my wandering through the wilderness, God taught me four truths about control.

The Role of Control

 

1. God is in control of our circumstances, even when we don’t understand what he is doing.

The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law (Deut. 29:29).

Before God took me on a wilderness detour, I didn’t realize the depth of my desire to control my life. This desire was like tangled weeds, choking the growth of my faith. When things were going well, I found it easy to deceive myself into thinking my faith was strong. But when trials continued to multiply, I was not able to fully “trust in the Lord with all [my] heart and lean not on [my] own understanding” (Prov. 3:5). My faith needed to develop deeper roots. God used his Word to help me understand that he is often working in secret ways that I cannot see or understand (Deut. 29:29). And God is not obligated to explain his ways to me! As I believed his Word, my illusion of control weakened and my trust in God’s sovereignty deepened.

2. We can control our responses to the circumstances that God allows.

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose (Rom. 8:28).

I couldn’t choose the circumstances of this wilderness season, but I could choose my response. Charles Spurgeon said, “The same sun which melts wax hardens clay.”1 I faced a choice: would I be like wax, softened by the heat of trial, or would I harden like clay under the fire? Choosing a godly response to suffering was challenging. I was tempted to harden my heart, focusing on the perceived prominence of others’ sin instead of asking the Lord to reveal mine. By God’s grace, he “melted” my resistance, teaching me to forgive instead. The Holy Spirit enabled me to entrust my painful situations to the Lord’s care, knowing that God was working for my good. I used to think that this meant everything would work out the way I wanted, as in “happily ever after.” But the “good” referred to in Romans 8:28 is that of becoming more like Christ—which is truly the best “happily ever after” of all.

3. The Gospel acts as a compass to control our navigation through trials.

His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence (2 Pet. 1:3).

The truths of the gospel had directed me to saving faith in Christ in the past. But the gospel was also necessary for enduring the present suffering to which God had called me in this wilderness experience. As I wrestled with putting one foot in front of the other, the Lord graciously revealed that I was pointing my gaze in the wrong direction. Instead of looking to Christ and relying on his power, I was focused on myself and my seemingly insurmountable circumstances. But clinging to 2 Peter 1:3 helped me get my bearings and remember an important gospel promise: Christ’s divine power had already provided everything I needed to navigate this path. And Christ’s presence ensured that I would never walk alone.

4. God calls us to surrender to his control by holding our plans loosely.

The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps (Prov. 16:9).

After a year of struggle, I thought I was finally leaving the wilderness behind. And then a tiny nodule appeared on my thyroid. My uneasiness grew as I left the doctor’s office, considering what the biopsy might reveal. I picked up a book I had ordered, He Will Hold Me Fast 2, surprised to see the subtitle – A Journey with Grace Through Cancer – and to learn that this book detailed a woman’s experience with thyroid cancer. Two days later, fear gave way to panic with the official diagnosis of my own thyroid cancer. I wrestled with the Lord, asking why he would allow this now. This was not my plan following the difficult wilderness I had just endured!

In God’s mercy, I began to realize that I had never surrendered my retirement desires to the Lord. I had merely prayed that he would provide for what I had planned. The Lord helped me discover a different way to pray: “Lord, cancer is not what I wanted or planned for my retirement years. But if this is what you are now calling me to experience, I submit to your plan. I don’t know how to do this, so please help me.” Interestingly, the title of that book later came to hold a different meaning; rather than striking fear, it became a wonderful reminder of the Lord’s ability to “hold me fast.” Just as the Israelites entered the wilderness “equipped for battle” (Ex. 13:18), God equipped me to handle treatments and surgery, and he encouraged me through the prayer and support of friends and family.

Now three years later, I am mercifully cancer-free and able to enjoy many of the relationship and ministry opportunities I had longed for in retirement. But there is something sweeter than these blessings. Although the wilderness season was a detour I never would have chosen, the Lord knew it was what I needed. Learning to trust his control and surrender my own has transformed my relationship with the Lord, which is now richer and more deeply-rooted than I ever thought possible. I don’t know what difficulties and opportunities every future day will hold, but I know who holds control of my future.

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1. Charles Spurgeon. “The Lesson of the Almond Tree.” Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Volume XLVI. (Passmore and Alabaster, 1900).
2. Connie Dever. He Will Hold Me Fast: A Journey with Grace Through Cancer. (Ross-shire: Christian Focus Publications, Ltd., 2017).

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How to Find Joy When Life Is Hard

In any walk of life, there will be times of great blessing and times of great difficulty. There will be times when you feel full of joy and there may be times when you may feel quite desperate. But whatever your circumstances today, God says to you:

“Rejoice in hope” (Rom. 12:12).

Does rejoicing seem impossible, in light of your present situation?

Remember that Paul wrote the words of Romans 12:12 to Christians who, within a few years, would endure a persecution in which some of them would be thrown to lions and others would be burned alive as torches in Nero’s garden.

So the hope Paul speaks of is not an optimistic feeling that things will get better. The apostle was not naïve, and he did not hold to an evolutionary view of human nature. “Evil people… will go from bad to worse,” he said (2 Tim. 3:13).

The hope we are to rejoice in is the glorious hope that is ours in Christ. This hope is not located in this world, but in a new world into which Jesus Christ will bring us when He comes again.

Paul says that we are “waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for Himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works” (Titus 2:13-14).

When you can’t find joy in what is around you, find joy in what lies ahead of you.

Of course, the question is: How are you to do this?

The 3 R’s of Rejoicing in Hope

 

1. Resist the indulgence of false hopes.

Hoping for something that doesn’t ever happen leaves you feeling sick (Prov. 13:12). So, don’t put yourself in that position. Don’t set yourself up to be disappointed.

Think, for example, about the last hundred years of world history. The nineteenth century ended with extraordinary optimism – mankind was coming into “a golden age.” Then, fourteen years into the 20th century, we had the First World War. People said it will be “the war to end all wars.” If we can just get past this problem, we will come into a new and marvelous world. But it was only a matter of 20 more years before the Second World War and after that we endured the Cold War for another 50 years.

The 20th century seemed to end in hope with the tearing down of the Berlin wall. People began to speak about “a new world order.” But just a few years later, we became immersed in a whole new kind of war, “the war on terror.”

It is in the nature of the human spirit to think that we can redeem the world, but a brief look at world history shows us that we never have and we never will. Some things can get better, but all visions of Utopia are doomed to failure in this fallen world, whether they be Marxist, capitalist, or Islamic State. Stop indulging false hopes!

2. Recognize short-term uncertainty.

People with plans often say with confidence, “Here is what I want to do: I am going to live in this or that city. I will go to this college and pursue that career. We are going to marry, and we are going to have children. We are going to plant a church. We are going to change the world!”

Listen to what God says in the letter of James: “Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit’—yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring” (Jas. 4:13-14).

It is good to have plans, but remember, when you plan for the future, you don’t even know if you will be here tomorrow! “What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes” (Jas. 4:15). Everything we hope to do in life depends on God’s grace and God’s strength; therefore, the wise person says, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that” (Rom. 4:15).

The short life we have in this world is very uncertain. God calls us to travel a winding path. None of us can see what is around the next corner – it may be a great trial, or it may be a great joy. We walk by faith, not by sight.

None of us knows for sure what will happen tomorrow, next week, next month, or next year. But here’s the thing: I don’t know what will happen tomorrow, but I do know the final outcome of my life.

3. Relish the promise of long-term security.

In a world full of uncertainty, where can we find security that lasts? In “our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ (Titus 2:13).

In the presence of Jesus, sin will be no more. It won’t be in you and it won’t be around you. Never again will you grieve your Savior. You will be a joy to Him and He will be a joy to you forever.

Never again will you be tired, weary, or discouraged. You will serve the Lord as you always wished you could. You will explore the joys of the new earth, freed at last from the curse – no floods or raging fires, no storms, earthquakes or mudslides. You will enjoy the blessings of a new world where every person truly loves his sister and brother – no violence, no hatred, no injustice, no fear.

You will enjoy eternal life in a resurrection body (modeled after the resurrection body of Jesus), in which the dark cloud of depression can never cast its shadow over you, the strong pull of temptation will never rise from within you, and the sharp anguish of pain will never torment you. You will be at home and at peace.

Rejoice! Jesus has overcome the world.

We don’t always feel at home or at peace in this world. Life in a fallen world is hard, and sometimes we groan inwardly, as we wait for the redemption of our bodies. But it is in this hope of redemption that we are saved (Rom. 8:23-24). We rejoice in the hope of heaven, where all tears will be wiped from our eyes.

Then we will see the King in His beauty. Our eyes shall behold Him. In our flesh we will see God, and we will have fullness of joy forever. So, whatever you are facing today, rejoice in hope.

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This article is an adaptation of Pastor Colin’s sermon, “Overcoming Evil with Steadiness,” from his series, Overcoming Evil.

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Is the Bible Always Literal?

The word literal is complicated. According to one of the first definitions in the dictionary, literal means: “adhering…to the ordinary construction of primary meaning of a term or expression.”

In other words, being literal can just mean saying what you mean to say, giving primary importance in the moment to what you mean to give primary importance.

Is the Bible Always Literal?

Yes, the Bible is entirely literal. But what does that really mean?

We might mistakenly replace the word literal with some other word. We might assume the Bible is entirely historical. Much of it is primarily historical, but how can Revelation, whose symbol-laden, future-tense prophecies have not yet happened, be historical? And surely we’d be missing much in our reading of the Psalms if we read them in the same way we read a biography.

When I say the Bible is always literal, I mean that it always gives primary importance to what it means to give primary importance. The Bible always and perfectly says exactly what it means to say.

And I want to argue here that the Bible is also more than literal. It is entirely literal, but it is also what I call “literal plus.”

Three Ways the Bible Is “Literal Plus”

The thirteenth-century writer Thomas Aquinas wrote:

Since the literal sense is that which the author intends, and since the author of [Scripture] is God, who by one act comprehends all things by his intellect, it is not unfitting, as Augustine says, if, even according to the literal sense, one word in [Scripture] should have several senses.1

Essentially, Aquinas is saying that since God understands everything, and in so many deeper ways than we do, isn’t it possible that when he says something simple it can also have a deeper meaning? The deeper meaning would not contradict the first meaning, but would be that which rewards further study. In this way, a single sentence could be enough for a lifetime’s worth of reflection.

Take this sentence from 1 John 4:16: “God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him” (ESV). You could spend an eternity learning more about the riches of this phrase, and in all that time you would never learn something truthful that contradicts the initial lesson it teaches.

And so every Bible passage has the truth it presents to you right away—that’s the literal meaning, and the truth that can be discovered by reflection and study—that’s where the “plus” comes in. Here are three ways the Bible is “literal plus.”

1. Literal Plus Allegorical

Remember, the Bible is entirely literal, and the Bible is also “literal plus.” The “plus” never contradicts the literal. With that said, let’s open to Genesis 1:10–13:

And God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good… “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” … And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.

The literal meaning is that God created the earth and the seas. God created plants and fruit trees. And He created them good. And it was on the third day of creation. That’s the literal meaning, and it is true and trustworthy.

Now let’s turn to Genesis 1:26–27, 29–31:

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” …

So God created man in his own image,

in the image of God he created him;

male and female he created them.

And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food.” … And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

The literal meaning is that, on the sixth day of creation, God created mankind, Adam and Eve. He created them in his image, male and female, and he gave them the land as a place to live and govern, and God gave them the plants and fruit trees as food to eat.

But there is more truth to be gained here! And so we can read allegorically. Here the allegorical truth is this: God provides and prepares life for his creation.

Genesis 1 is surely teaching us not only that God created the world in those six days, but he also sustains it even now! As God prepared a place for Adam and Eve three days before they were created, so he prepares and plans our lives for us.

The Bible literally teaches that God created the world, and that’s true and good. It also allegorically teaches us that God’s character is that of a good provider. He cares for the world even now—not just during those six days in Genesis!

2. Literal Plus Moral

Another “literal plus” layer in the abovementioned verses from Genesis is the moral sense. Morality deals with how we ought to live, and so the question here is this: How does Genesis teach us to live?

Of course, when we are grounded faithfully in the literal truth that God created the world, then we can easily see the moral truth as well—we belong to God. God has a claim over our lives because he created us. We ought to live the way he tells us to live. If God were not literally our Creator, then this moral truth would not be accurate.

This “literal plus” layer is particularly helpful in reading the Gospel accounts. For if we just read them literally, we can be tempted to think, “Oh, that’s nice that Jesus lived that way” but never realize that Jesus’ actions are moral imperatives for his followers!

That is precisely why Paul says, “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1), because he understands the moral sense of the Gospels. Paul understands that Jesus’ life is something we not only cherish but follow.

3. Literal Plus Christological

You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life (John 5:39-40).

Jesus teaches that all Scripture points to him. All the books of the Bible “bear witness about [Jesus]”; that means if we read the Scriptures and we miss Jesus, then we’ve missed the point entirely.

This is exactly why we need to read the Bible with a “literal plus” mindset. If we go to the Bible looking for wisdom in Proverbs, comfort in Psalms, teaching in Romans, interesting stories in Acts, or whatever else, we can get all of that on the literal level.

But if we miss how the Scripture always points to Jesus Christ, we will miss out on life itself.

In summary, when you open your Bible next, don’t stop when you catch what the Bible says on the surface. Instead, dig deeper until you also see what it is saying allegorically about the character of God, about the moral obligation of mankind, and, above all, about Jesus Christ our Savior.

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1. Thomas Aquinas, Summa theologica, trans. Fathers of the English Dominican Province, ed. R. M. Hutchins, Great Books of the Western World: Vol. 19. Thomas Aquinas I (Chicago: Encyclopedia Britannica, 1952), 1.1.10.

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Trusting God in a Troubled World

Followers of Jesus have hope in a troubled world. Paul describes it as “the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27). Another way of saying this would be eternal life: life that is not marred by the brokenness all of us know and are experiencing right now.

The glory that followers of Jesus look forward to is the world we all want. It is the world our hearts ache for – a better world, a safe world, a glorious world that will last forever. Followers of Jesus have this hope. And we are looking forward to it with confidence.

Christian hope anticipates future glory.

We often use the word hope with a vague uncertainty, as if hope were wishful thinking shot through with doubt. We think, “I hope these things happen… but they might not.”

Is the Christian hope of heaven in that category?

Absolutely not.

And here’s why. Our hope is “laid up for [us] in heaven. Of this [we] have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel (Col. 1:5).

Gospel is not a word that we use today, except in churches. But it means a big announcement that will change the world. If someone found a vaccine to the coronavirus, that news would be gospel. It would be a world-changing announcement.

The world-changing announcement that Paul speaks of is the good news that Jesus Christ died for our sins and rose from the dead. And this marvelous truth holds out hope for every person in the world today.

This hope is not wishful thinking. Instead, it is a solid reality because it is rooted in the death and resurrection of Jesus, “the word of the truth, the gospel, which has come to you (Col. 1:5-6).

What difference does following Jesus make in this troubled world? We have hope.

This hope is stored up in heaven. It is the hope of glory – the joyful anticipation of a world with no viruses, no injustice, no pain – and it is grounded in the death and resurrection of Jesus.

Do you have that hope? Is this what you’re looking forward to? Is your hope filled, not with a vague uncertainty, but with solid assurance won by Christ on the cross and sealed by His resurrection?

Now at this point you might say, “Well, okay, Nathan, that’s great, but how does this help me now? Our world is in trouble. So how does a future hope help me today?”

Christian hope bears fruit today.

Followers of Jesus have more than hope for the future, they have faith and love for today. And our faith and love flow from our hope. Paul speaks about the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for us in heaven (Col. 1:4-5).

Do you see how faith, hope and love are linked? Hope gives birth to faith and love. Because followers of Jesus are confident of what He will do in the future (hope), we can trust Him for what He is doing now (faith).

The place to begin is to trust Jesus for the future He has promised. But as you trust Jesus for a place in the future, you must also trust Him to get you there. Trust Him to help you, to sustain you, to keep you, and to navigate you through any crisis that comes in your life.

What difference does following Jesus make in our troubled world? We have hope and we have faith. Or perhaps a better way to say it is: “We’re learning to have faith.”

As I look forward to what Jesus will do, I’m learning to trust what He is doing now. Hope in Jesus gives birth to faith in Jesus. I can trust in what Jesus is doing now because I’m sure of what He will do in the future.

But there’s more. Hope gives birth to faith, and it also gives birth to love, the kind of faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for us in heaven (Col. 1:4-5). I’m not suggesting for one minute that followers of Jesus are the only ones who love. Far from it. But there is something different about the way followers of Jesus love, or are called to love.

Christian hope fosters freedom—both now and for eternity.

Being confident about the future liberates us to love today. When you know that you are loved enough to be given a place in the glorious future promised by Jesus, you can learn to love others as He has loved you.

Jesus loved you with a love that sacrificed everything for you, and when you know that love you will be able to love others, even when it is costly.

You will be free to love people who aren’t like you – and that’s what we are called to do in the church. Followers of Jesus are part of a community that is learning to love as Jesus loved, and that is a beautiful thing to be part of.

Faith, hope, and love – aren’t these things that you would want to have in your life? Don’t you want to have a future you can look forward to? Don’t you want to have someone you can trust? Don’t you want to have someone whose love will never fail you? God holds out these gifts to you in the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing (Col. 1:6), and my prayer for you is that the gospel will bear the fruit of faith, hope, and love in your life today.

Believe the world-changing good news that Jesus Christ died for sin and rose from the dead. Receive God’s gracious gift of forgiveness by turning to Him and trusting Him today. Take hold of the hope held out to you in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

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Faith Is for Today’s Flawed Fathers

Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:1-3).

When you think about family life, you carry in your mind an airbrushed image of other people. You assume other husbands are enjoying loving intimacy with their wives, and that other wives are enjoying the engaged support of husbands who understand them deeply. In addition, you may assume that other people’s children love and respect their parents, and seek their counsel as they gladly follow their example.

However, there are no perfect families. If someone were to try and write a book called, Model Families of the Bible, it would be a very short book indeed.

Faith is for Flawed Fathers

The book of Genesis tells us not about a model family but about a flawed father. Now, Abraham was a great man of faith and greatly blessed by God. But men at their best are only the raw material in which God can begin a work of grace. The best Christians, including the one sitting next to you, is a sinner in the process of being redeemed. God puts his grace in jars of clay. The Bible makes this very clear in the story of Abraham.

The story begins when God calls Abraham to set out on a journey of faith and “so Abram went” (Gen. 1:4). That’s the obedience of faith—doing what God says. Abraham was a remarkable person, a man of faith, and a respected man with wide influence—we would say “leadership.” He was a man of prayer, and a man of remarkable spiritual experience. What a blessing for Sarah to be married to him, don’t you think? Seriously, doesn’t this sound like a Christian woman’s wish list? What more could you want in a husband? “Lord, if you would give me a man of faith, who is a spiritual leader, who will take leadership in our home, a man who prays, and who knows you…”

But even Abraham had feet of clay, and the Bible does not hide this from us. Faith is not for airbrushed saints; it is for the real world of flawed fathers and fractured families.

Though Abraham obediently set out for the Promised Land, his faith was tested by disappointment (Gen. 12:10), and his marriage was marked by failure (Gen. 12:13). He soon found himself ashamed, powerless, and alienated from his wife (Gen. 12:15). The man of faith, influence, prayer, and remarkable spiritual experience found himself desperately in need of the grace of God. Every Christian husband knows what it is like to find himself there.

Sarah likewise found herself powerless and vulnerable, thinking, “I married a man of faith and influence and prayer and spiritual experience. How in the world did I end up here?” She discovered that she was married to a man who was deeply flawed. Every Christian wife knows what it is to find herself there.

It could not have been easy for Abraham to look his wife in the eye, feeling that he no longer had a right to her respect and had lost confidence in his own ability to lead. God gave him his wife back, but where could they go from here?

Faith is for Facing Up to Flaws

Take it from Abraham. Learn from the experience of a fellow flawed husband and father how to face up to the fractures in your own family. Here are four actions that faith takes.

1. Quit deceptions.

It is so easy to drift through life with deceptions and secret sins. If there is any deception in your life, quit it today. They never work. You get away with something that you know is wrong and, then after a while, you convince yourself that you always will. Nothing bad will happen. But something will come of it. Every sin brings its wages.

If you have a secret sin that you have harbored and nobody knows, renounce it today. God, as though he were standing before you today, he is saying to you, “Be done with it, before it brings destruction to you and to others God has placed around you.”

2. Stop thinking about yourself.

This was Abraham’s problem: “Sarah, when they see how beautiful you are, they will kill me” (Gen. 12:12-13). He was worried about himself. Abraham is so focused on protecting himself that he really hasn’t thought about how what he is doing might affect Sarah. It’s all about him.

If only Abraham had stopped thinking about himself and started thinking about his wife! How much pain could have been avoided if he had done this? How much pain could be avoided, if we fathers today would think less about ourselves and more about our wives?

3. Face your fears.

I don’t know if anyone in Egypt would have tried to kill Abraham, in order to get Sarah, but clearly he thought that was possible. Fear was at the root of Abraham’s folly, and it is so often at the root of so many foolish choices today.

You’re afraid of losing face, afraid of not measuring up, and afraid of what might happen. What can you do about that? Face your fears with faith in Christ. Spit it out in prayer. Tell him what you’re afraid of. It will do great good for your soul.

4. Persevere in your calling.

When you fail badly, the easiest thing in the world is to give up on your marriage, give up on yourself, give up on God, and slink off into wasting the rest of your life. Abraham didn’t do that. God had promised to bless him.

Abraham stepped out in the obedience of faith, and after all the trials and traumas in Egypt, he just kept going (Gen. 13:1). That’s what you need to do when you feel your failure, mess up your testimony, and bring pain into the lives of others. You simply press forward in the humility that takes hold of the grace of God, and God will bless you.

Faith is for Embracing Jesus Christ

Who is like Jesus in the story of Abraham? It’s certainly not Abraham. The answer here is Sarah, the beautiful, godly woman who is a gift to her husband. He does not cherish her. Instead, like a fool, he gives her up. But then we read “For her sake, [the king] dealt well with Abraham” (Gen. 1:16). For the sake of the one he should have honored, the king dealt well with Abraham.

God sent His Son into the world, the gift of all gifts, Jesus Christ. We should cherish Him. But here we are, fools who do not realize the gift that we have been given. Caring more about ourselves than we do about Christ, we give Him up. There He is on the cross, bearing sin, but for Christ’s sake the King will deal well with us.

However flawed and fractured your life is today, embrace Christ, return to Him, love Him, trust Him, and walk with Him. He will receive you with grace, and for His sake, God will deal well with you.

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This article is adapted from Pastor Colin’s sermon, “The Flawed Father,” from his series Faith for Fractured Families.

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God’s Word Speaks to Our Concerns About Racism. Are We Listening?

In my recent conversations about racial injustice, I have encountered some Christians who fit into one of two categories: either they don’t know some truth of God’s Word and need to be educated, or they know the Bible well but find it difficult to connect and apply it to their own contextualized situations.

I am neither a politician nor an academic scholar. I am a pastor; therefore, I think about ways I can respond to situations first biblically and then pastorally. The goal of my counsel is always to teach the truth of Scripture and help people apply it to their lives.

Christian friends, the Scriptures speak clearly to the Church in these days of heartache and confusion. Are we listening? Here are six specific ways that God’s Word transforms our response to racism.

Think Differently

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect (Romans 12:2).

If you are spending more of your time watching the various news and social media outlets than you are reading the Bible or listening to sermons, that is a problem. Your thinking is being conformed to the image of this world. It is only the Word of God and the Spirit of God that can communicate the will of God. A faithful reading of the Bible must be our primary source of information as we learn to discern what is acceptable according to God’s standard.

Listen First, Then Act

Let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.… Be doers of the word, and not hearers only (James 1:19-20, 22).

Are you quick to get angry over personal attacks? Do you desire to control a conversation by changing the narrative of a discussion shared by others? Do you get defensive when people talk about race or racism? Do you tend to dismiss the fact that racism is pervasive and systemic? If so, you are neither producing the righteousness of God nor acting in the freedom the Lord provides. Friendships with people who look and think differently than you provide a good context in which to practice listening. I encourage you to intentionally reach out to people of a different ethnicity than your own, and invite them to dinner. Seek to build relationships with them by patiently listening to their positions and without offering correction.

Remember Our Freedom

For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery (Galatians 5:1).

The Church is ethnically and culturally diverse. So, don’t expect everyone to hold onto your personal ethnic or cultural values and practices. Do not make legalistic disciples by seeking to assimilate people into your racially dominant framework. Instead, let us remember that we are no longer bound by the law but have received the grace of Jesus Christ. Christian relationships should be mutually beneficial. One person should never demand that the other think and act exactly like himself. To do so would dilute the beauty and majesty of God’s diverse creation. As God gives grace in our cultural, contextualized expressions, so should you.

Be United

For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility… that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility (Ephesians 2:14-16).

Church congregations sometimes sing hymns like “The Old Rugged Cross.” Too often we cling to and cherish the old, rugged cross of Christ but fail to cherish and cling to each other. Instead of merely thinking black, brown and white people should pursue racial reconciliation, the Christian conversation must shift. It is the cross of Christ that reconciles us, first to God, and then makes us one unified people group who can experience life together in peaceful harmony. For we are not to be enemies of one another, showing hostility because of our different skin colors. Rather, we are now members of the same body with equal value in Christ, equal position before God, and equal access to a relationship with God Almighty.

Give Honor to Others

Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor (Romans 12:9-10).

It can be hard to accept defeat, whether in a game of chess, in a difficult conversation, or when facing a very significant loss. Our competitive drive kicks in, and we strive to win our own way in conversations and in relationships. God says our love toward others should be rooted in the thoughtful and purposeful giving of honor. When was the last time you sought to honor someone who had an opinion that was not sinful, yet different from yours?

Stay the Course

And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith (Galatians 6:9-10).

Don’t stop doing what is right because you are uncomfortable or fearful. Don’t give up on the work even though it is hard. Don’t take shortcuts, such as saying, “I’ll pray for you” without knowing what struggles are in the person’s heart. Ask instead, “In what way can I join you in prayer?” Today is a great day to enter the world of a person of color. Learn a new language, celebrate a cultural holiday together, send a birthday or thank you card, and let your brothers and sisters in Christ know that you love them.

People often ask me the question, “What can we do to help fight racism?” I encourage you to start by believing that the Bible’s teaching is necessary and sufficient. There was a time in my life when I believed that the Bible was true but resisted its authority over my life. Now, more than ever before, God’s Word directs my steps on the Christian journey and offers hope of eternal joy in the living Word, Jesus Christ. Knowing and applying the Bible is necessary for the Christian, for it declares the will of God for us, including how we are to address issues of racism. This same Word sufficiently answers our questions about life and should be the womb that incubates all of our theological practices. I pray that you are both convicted and convinced of the Bible’s authority over your life. As you listen to God, may you be transformed by his Word!