Thoughts on the week’s readings 8/16/22
It is Friday, and it has been another week of heightened tensions fueled by our ever-present narrow self-interest. Reading this morning’s devotion, 1Peter 4: 7 - 11, I thought back over several of the readings that I have encountered this week and I was both chastised and heartened. The tensions we experience in our world and in our personal lives never are generated from God. Think about it; at some level they are all connected to people, including ourselves, thinking about themselves, their prestige, power, position in society, wants, perceived needs, money, time, fairness, the list can go on. We disagree, we get ugly, we fight over how we think our self-interests should be met or protected. At best, it gets tiring and at worst, it gets destructive.
And all the time, there is God willing us to be at peace to be in harmony within the very existence of God. Jesus put it so simply, “love God; love others”. So here is some encouragement and a little chastisement that I gleaned out of several of my readings this week, paraphrased just a bit in places.
Proverbs 25: 6-7
Don’t think more highly of yourself than you should.
Psalm 112;
Happy are those who honor the Lord… they are like a light, they are generous, merciful,…they deal generously… they have distributed freely.
BUT
The wicked watch this and are angered by their actions.
Hebrews 13:1-8, 15,16
Let mutual love continue…show hospitality to strangers…keep free from the love of money…share what you have. This way of living is what God intends for us.
Luke 14: 1, 8-14
Take the lowest, most humble place among others…don’t give special notice to those who can repay you or from whom you will benefit. Instead, pay attention to the marginalized in society.
1 Peter 4: 7-11
Maintain constant love for others…be hospitable without complaining,…serve one another with whatever gift you have been given
SO THAT
God, in Jesus, is glorified in all things.
The chastisement? It’s not about me!
The good news? It’s not about me, it’s about God
