"For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith, goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self control; and to self control, perseverence; and to perseverence, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our LORD Jesus Christ."
- 2 Peter 1:5-8
"Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourself with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the LORD forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love which binds them together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace."
- Colossians 3:12-15
These two sets of verses tell us how to live.
Which is fine.
Except that, the most common question I get here at MBC is this:
how do i care about other people if i don't care about myself?
That, at it's very core, is a question of this struggling generation. This generation of teenagers have not been taught two things:
1) Self worth.
2) Discipline.
In essence, what they ask is directly in line with a commandment of Jesus.
love your neighbour as yourself.
This implies you must love yourself. But this begs two other questions.
1) What is love?
2) What happens when an entire generation of teenagers aren't being taught how to love themselves?
And be wary. I don't for a second suggest that this love is something superficial. In fact, the Bible points to love that is selfless. See 1 Corinthians 13.
But those two passages demand we put on love. We must love.
how do we love if we haven't been taught what love is?
Food for thought, I guess.
This is what this generation of teenagers is facing.
Word of the Day: Love
Quote of the Day: "Love is most perfectly fulfilled when we bear the hurts and sufferings of others." Richard J. Foster
2 comments:
Hmmm, some serious food for thought! Thank you for sharing it with us! Hope you're having a great time at MBC. We LOVE it there!
Blessings!
Deborah
I think we struggle with this at any age at some points in our lives. I know I do. We need to learn how to shut out the voice of the devil telling us we are unworthy, not good enough, and listen to GOD's voice telling us He loves us because He created us, and we can do all things through Him! That's why it's so important to surround ourselves with people who encourage us and not tear us down, and that we learn to do the same for others. (Eph.4:29)
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