“Honesty, humility, love, and faithfulness are more caught in action than taught with mental assent.”
Thoughts from daily Bible reading for today – March 8, 2021
But you, Timothy, certainly know what I teach, and how I live, and what my purpose in life is. You know my faith, my patience, my love, and my endurance. 2 Timothy 3:10, NLT
I admire parents, teachers, business leaders, coaches, preachers and all who have influence that do life with those in their life. These loving people are examples of the power of speaking truth followed by living out truth—together. When a parent instructs a son to be patient with his sister, and then the children observe their mom being patient with her husband’s forgetfulness, the instruction is made real by a real life example. When a gifted teacher or preacher exhorts others to live a life of integrity, and then invites a protege to travel together or attend meetings together—the young learner can watch integrity lived out. Honesty, humility, love, and faithfulness are more caught in action than taught with mental assent. Doing life together takes time, but transforms!
Jesus did life with His disciples. He showed them how to be compassionate, how to love and how to confront religious hypocrisy. And so did Paul, one of Christ’s most impactful apostles. The apostle Paul, brilliant with his impressive pedigree, invited Timothy and others to do life together. They watched their gifted mentor experience the humiliation of rejection and the pain of suffering without complaint—but with a spirit of being blessed to be a servant of Jesus. Though a Holy Spirit inspired writer and anointed speaker—Paul’s accomplishments were worthless compared to knowing and making known Christ. His vulnerability gave those around him permission to be vulnerable. He did life with others to show them how to live for others.
“Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1, NKJV).
Are you intentional to do life with those the Lord has brought into your life? Your family, friends and work colleagues all desire and deserve to know you better—to see you slip up, and to say I’m sorry. For example, apologizing at work when your team does not do its part on a project, and taking responsibility to make it right without blaming another co-worker. Most impactful to those watching you may be your forgiveness toward a friend who deeply hurt you. Be sure to invite into your life those already in the orbit of your life. Be real so those who love you can know you.
If I am not intentional to confess my sins to those closest to me—I can pretend that I am better than I am. A Jesus poser—ouch. So, I have to make sure, by God’s grace, to be transparent about my temptations and not to project a social media life fully sanitized of sin and suffering. At the same time, in the fullness of the Spirit, I can humbly show those in my life how to love others as they need to be loved, how to give generously my time and money, and how to serve selflessly. We do life together by laughing out loud, weeping in grief and growing to be more like Jesus!
“He [Jesus] said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where He was staying, and remained with Him that day” (John 1:39, NKJV).
Prayer
Heavenly Father, give me the courage and heart to do life with others, through Christ’s love and in His name I pray, amen.
Application
Who can you invite to go with you to serve someone else?
Related Reading
Proverbs 27:17; Mark 1:16-20; Luke 9:11; Romans 12:4-5
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