By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. John 13:35
“Now what will make us love? Truly, faith will do that. If you behold how much God loves you in Christ, and what vengeance He has delivered you from for His sake, and what kingdom He has made you an heir of, then you will see cause enough to love your enemy without respect to any reward, either in this life or in the life to come – but only because God would have it so, and Christ has deserved it. Yet you should feel in your heart that all your deeds to come are already abundantly recompensed in Christ.”
William Tyndale (1494-1536) in “The Obedience of a Christian Man and How Christian Rulers Ought to Govern”, from The Works of the English Reformers, vol. 1 (London: Thomas Russell, 1831) 15.
Consider the significance that this meditation comes to us from William Tyndale. The established church was ruling rather than governing God’s work, which of course, cannot be control by any human persons. Power struggles resulted. Tyndale would be burned at the stake for translating the Bible from Hebrew (OT) and Greek (NT) into English. He was willing to die for his faith in Jesus Christ and show love even to his enemies, because he knew what he had in Christ Jesus, and he wanted others to have it too.
Have you experienced destructive power struggles? We cannot be overcome by the evil in this world, but we can overcome it with good. How do we do that? We start by realizing all we have in Christ: think about how much He loves us, what He has delivered us from, and the kingdom He has given us. Do this for a while and you will want everyone you know to grasp it. Your generosity will flow from all you have received in Christ. Go love others richly and generously today, knowing you’ve been abundantly recompensed in Christ!
This month is full for me with a mix of service on mission for God and making memories. My schedule today reflects this. Join me today on a Barnabas Foundation Church Webinar: “Faith and Giving in Practice” from 12-1pm ET. After that I get to spend the day with my wife, Jenni, and my parents, Jack and Patsy Hoag, in Lake Wales, Florida, where they’ve recently settled near my brother David, and his wife, Joanna. Thank you God for the gift of this visit, and for your love, for saving us from ourselves, and freeing us to love others generously.