Your Spirit Nature – God’s Love in You
The person who truly wants to live a spiritual life will spend a majority of their effort disciplining their minds and body with the Word of God. There is great reward for the believer who chooses not to yield to carnal thoughts and impulses of anger and offense. God has thoroughly equipped us to handle any such temptation.
The opportunity to act in hate and maliciousness comes to us on a daily basis. Actually, it can come on an hourly basis. We often are the most tempted to retaliate in a hurtful way when we feel offended. Offense is simply a carnal feeling that comes to us when we feel that someone didn’t live up to OUR expectations on how WE WANTED to be treated. God has given us the ability not to participate in such a hurtful lifestyle. Romans 5:5 says, “…the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who is given to us.” Notice that God has given us an alternative to retaliation. He has put a deposit of His love into our spirit by the Holy Spirit. Many times love is simply a choice not to respond in anger. Where does the Holy Spirit dwell? He dwells in the spirit of those who have made Jesus Christ their Lord and Savior.
Believers are filled with God’s love even though it might not appear that way at times and certainly doesn’t always FEEL that way. But the love of God is not a feeling; it’s a choice. If you are waiting to have a feeling before you start being patient with people you may end up waiting for a long time. That feeling may never come. So you had better make a DECISION to discipline yourself in your attitudes towards people.
I had an experience that would help illustrate how God’s love in us should act. One day I was eating lunch in my car when I noticed an enormous hairy spider sitting on my windshield wiper. He was Jamestown’s version of a tarantula. As I sat there I thought to myself, “I should smash that spider just because he’s that ugly.” A moment later I heard the voice of the Lord in my heart. I felt the Lord say, “Do you realize how ugly your sin made you in my eyes?”
I understood immediately what that meant. It meant that God’s love looked way beyond the offenses and trespasses I committed that made me a repulsive creature in His sight. I understood the assignment God gave us to act just like Him. I knew that it represented peoples’ attitudes and my own towards people who repulse us at times. It represented our failures to look beyond the outward appearance and personality of others and love them even when they make you feel disgusted. The love of God in you, when acted upon, will invest into the lives of those who might not invest into you. Needless to say, I showed mercy to that spider!
Pastor Tim
Family Church Jamestown is a non-denominational church located in Chautauqua County in Jamestown between Lakewood and Busti NY. The senior pastor of Family Church is Pastor Tim Stahlman a native to the Jamestown, NY area.
