We who are called by the name of Christ sometimes fail. All of our failures are the result of one thing, self centeredness. The only way to be delivered from this is to walk in love. Love does not seek its own.
We who are called by the name of Christ sometimes fail. All of our failures are the result of one thing, self centeredness. The only way to be delivered from this is to walk in love. Love does not seek its own.
" I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." - Galatians 2:20 (NIV)
"Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will." - Romans 12:1-2 (NIV)
"Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace." - Ephesians 4:2-3 (NIV)
This ugly character has a name. Its called pride. Pride is at the center of "me". Am at present reading Andrew Murrays "The Masters Indwelling". Murray says "Christians, look at your own lives in the light of the words of Jesus. Do you find there self-will, self-pleasing? Remember this every time you please yourself, you deny Jesus. It is one of the two. You must please Him only, and deny self, or you must please yourself and deny Him."....Jesus said "if anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me" Murray goes on to expound that it is only when a Christian deny's the self that then Christ will live in Him in fullness. We in and of our power can not walk in Love...He living in a vessel that has "denied self and nailed self to the cross" can.
by Solomon101We who are called by the name of Christ sometimes fail. All of our failures are the result of one thing, self centeredness. The only way to be delivered from this is to walk in love. Love does not seek its own.
I agree with Enochh too but I know that choosing to love can overcome that pride of having to have the last word or having to correct someone because you think you're right. Love is the answer!
God bless you,
Lisa
Thank you brothers and sisters for sharing these posts. Praise God that love never fails.
Our greatest problem is not other people, it is not the devil, but it is self. We can have all the right doctrines and faith formulas down pat and still be living for self.
Jesus made it very plain that if we are to be his disciples we must deny self. Christ is living in us and He wants to live His life through us. May we all come to the place where we will be able to say with the Apostle Paul that "For me to live is Christ."
Mike
We've heard it preached that each time we fail, the cause can be traced back to a neglect of prayer and reading the Word. But this isn't entirely true, although it holds impressive spiritual weight and has a measure of logic attached to it. The truth is, you can be reading the Bible diligently each day and spending time in prayer regularly and still fail.
"Love" is indeed the key. Everytime I've failed, it is because I've failed to walk in love, not necessaily because I've failed to read the Word or pray. It's because I've sought my own and not my neighbor's advantage. I've sought to gratify self and not God.
Oftentimes, God will allow you to fail even though you are "prayed up", to teach the difficult lesson that dutiful prayer and Bible study does not always equate to walking in love and having the mind of Christ. One may do the former and be totally bereft of the latter. In fact, without love, our time of prayers and Bible study can be rendered null and void. Paul wrote a whole chapter about this sort of thing; he went as far to say even martydom is counted as nought.
Let us then major on love, on compassion, on gentleness, meekness and esteeming others above ourselves, and let our prayers and Bible studies be seasoned and marinated in such. Conformity to Christ is always our best defense against a fall. One day we shall be like Him in glory; down here we aspire toward a premature taste by virtue of the Holy Spirit.
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