December 3
Daniel 11:2-35 | PS 122:1-9 | Prov 29:1 | 1 John 3:7-24
I completed residency in 1992 and have been in private practice as an obstetrician/gynecologist ever since. There have been many changes in medicine, but seeing a steady flow of patients there has been a marked change in what are deemed norms for my patients. One change is that many women now choose to marry much later, and some choose not to marry at all. Also, while most three decades ago strongly desired to have children there has been a significant rise in those women who choose not to have children whether married or not. My focus is on women, as these are my patients. I spoke with a patient the other day who has been with her boyfriend for over fifteen years and is probably going to marry, but remains unsure about having children. She states she loves going out to dinner when and where she wants and loves the idea of being able to travel without hesitation. I explained to her that we are all innately selfish from when we are little children as our focus revolves around what we want. Marriage is often the first step of getting our eyes off of ourselves as we learn to defer to another rational human being. Having children is the next step as we learn to care for a completely irrational human being. All of this slowly teaches us to concern ourselves with others rather than ourselves. Self love is rampant and is destroying lives all around us. More importantly, our lives are nothing and heaven will be lost unless we learn to take our eyes off of ourselves and onto Jesus Christ who died for our sins.
Jesus started His teaching of the Beatitudes in Matthew 5:3, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven". To be poor in spirit is the opposite of pride. This is the entry point to forming a relationship with God. We read in 1 John 3:16, "By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren." Jesus said in John 15:12-13, "This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends." Oh, there is no shortage of throwing out the word, "love". We read again in 1 John 3:11, "For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another,". The Greek word for love used here is not some sloppy, mushy word for love, but is "agape" which is a selfless, and godlike love in which our love is poured out on another without any expectation of anything in return. For so many who like to fling the term "love" around consider John's words in 1 John 3:18, "My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth."
Jesus said in John 14:33, "If you love Me, keep My commandments." If we don't care enough about God to read what He has written in the Bible how can we actually love Him. In ignorance one can make this love of God to mean anything that they want, all the while having nothing to do with actually loving God. We cannot love God or others unless we train our eyes to get off of ourselves. The acrostic for JOY is Jesus first, then Others, lastly is Yourself. We have this completely reversed. Filled with self-esteem, self-importance, pride, etc. the most common form of love now in our society is self-love and its effects are far more disastrous than most want to consider.
Messages from Pastor Lloyd Pulley: