Be Men of Courage, Be Strong. Do everything in love.

Psalm 149; 1 Corinthians 15; 1 Corinthians 16
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Scripture

1 Corinthians 16

13 Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong. 14 Do everything in love.

Observation

Standing firm, being men of courage, being strong may be the easiest part of these two verses. I find that it is so easy to be mean. Meanness seems to be so easy for me. Paul says that we should be on our guard; we should stand firm in the faith; we should be men of courage; we should be strong then he adds the seemingly impossible part when he says that we should do everything in love.

It is so easy for me to be mean. How about you? Yesterday, I wrote about some of the stuff going on within the Board of Trustees of the International Mission Board and as I read different peoples comments about the controversy on different peoples blogs I picked up on the meanness in some of the comments. It is one of the reasons that I don’t write comments on those blogs if I did you might catch me being mean just like the folks I am talking about.

I admire the men and women that write and speak out strongly about what they believe and are able to do it in a tone of love. Wow! They are my heroes. David Rogers and Wade Burleson are two of those people. In this disagreement and any other it is important to focus on the issue and not attack the person. Taking pot shots at people and attacking them personally is so wrong.

Over the last few days as I read some of the comments made on Wade Burleson’s blog I read some that came from a man that I know personally. It saddened me as I read them because it was attacks on Wade as a person and it made this person I know look so foolish. The lesson to me is that it is best not to write anything on a blog if your heart is not right. Those comments will stay up there for a long time for everyone to read. It is a reflection of our hearts.

Meanness comes so easy. It takes courage to stand firm in the faith and at the same time do everything in love.


Application

As I drive home with Kathy today back to Tampa after having a wonderful vacation may I put verse 14 into practice as we drive and may I do everything in love.



Prayer

Heavenly Father, you know how easy it is for me to be mean. Help me to be on my guard, help me to stand firmly in the faith, help me to be a man of courage, but above all else Lord help me do everything today in love. Amen.



Today’s "Life Journal" Daily Bible Reading can be found on Line. Click Here!