“Do not say, “I will repay evil”;
wait for the Lord, and he will deliver you.”
– Proverbs 20:22

Life in a fallen world can be extraordinarily frustrating! We see injustice and evil and not only desire to change those things (a good and godly desire), but we often long to see the wrongdoers punished. Unfortunately, that won’t always happen quickly or even during our lifetime. This strains our limited patience. Our spirit easily grows resentful of the seeming success of people who cut corners, take advantage of others, or leave a wake of destruction behind their selfish, immoral, or criminal pursuits. It can be tempting to take matters into our own hands, but we must resist that temptation!

Though it’s hard to wait, we must trust in God’s ultimate justice. Yes, we should work for justice and change. Yes, we should work for and desire just government and laws. But we must always do so in a manner that glorifies God. We’re called to be patient and trust in God, even when we see little evidence of His activity. Vengeance isn’t our personal responsibility. As God’s people, Scripture assures us over and over again that there will be an ultimate and eternal reckoning for those who practice evil.

God will repay evil. God will deliver His people. There will be a day when all evil is judged and cast into hell forever and there will be a day when the people of God will be welcomed into His presence forever. We must not rush God, try to force His hand, or give up waiting for Him. Wait for the Lord and He will deliver you!

“But earnestly desire the higher gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way. If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.” – 1 Corinthians 12:31-13:1

Paul wrote this letter to an extremely gifted and talented church that was ripping itself apart! They needed to pursue the more excellent way of love. The church was divided, prideful, spiritually immature, and deeply influenced by the prevailing secular culture outside the church. As is usually true with 1 Corinthians, this sounds exactly like the modern American church!

Today we have easy access to amazing scholars, incredible Bible study resources at our fingertips, extraordinarily talented preachers and teachers, and a surplus of Christian leaders with vast platforms and loud voices exerting influence. But where’s the love? Too often, Christ-like love that’s humble, patient, gracious, kind, steadfast, and truly caring is missing altogether.

Without losing our theological rigor and passion for the Bible, our churches need a fresh encounter with Christ’s love. As Christians, we’re supposed to be leading with love rather than anger, condemnation, or legalism. Of course, we must teach and preach right doctrine, affirm God’s design for the world and human flourishing, and reach the lost with the good news of Jesus Christ. However, the way we do those things must be grounded in genuine, practical, sacrificial, costly love. Without love, our wonderful teaching and preaching is just an ungodly cacophony that benefits no one other than Satan!

Are you eagerly desiring the higher gift of love? Are you walking in the more excellent way of Christ? Is Christ’s love the theme of your life?

“For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body.” – 1 Corinthians 12:14-15

Christians aren’t meant to go it alone! It’s been quite popular for many years in our hyper-individualistic culture for professing Christians to say they don’t need the hassle or messiness of church. They argue they can pursue their faith and relationship with Christ on their own. They say they can worship God anywhere, which is certainly true. However, as a consistent pattern for life, all that is unbiblical!

When we accept Jesus Christ as Lord, He doesn’t just save us from our sins and call us to Himself. Jesus calls each of us into His body, which is the local church. He gifts us specifically to participate in, and contribute to, a local body of believers called a church. He shapes each Christian for specific service and ministry, fitting us together as one body, united by our faith, our baptism, His Spirit, and His presence.

Just because a Christian declares they’re “on their own” doesn’t make it so. That’s the point Paul is making in these verses. Whether God shapes you to be a hand, a foot, or a spleen in His church, He has shaped you to be in His church. So quit wasting time and the gifts of God and get in a church if you aren’t!

For your sake as well as the Kingdom’s sake, find and commit to Christian community and service as a member of a local church. Get to know and love people there. Lean into the messiness and find meaning. Lean into the hassle and find home. Lean into the challenges of ongoing relationship and experience true family in Christ. Lay down personal preference and experience the power of gathered worship.

“But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.” – 1 Corinthians 11:31-32

In Christ, we are a new creation! The old has passed away and the new has come! There is no condemnation for those in Christ! This is wonderful news, glorious truth, and your present reality as a follower of Jesus. However, that doesn’t mean that Jesus Christ, the Lord of your life, the absolute boss over every aspect of life, doesn’t have an opinion about some of your actions, words, and thoughts. He absolutely does!

Salvation in Christ comes with the invitation and command to try and live, speak, and think increasingly like Christ through the power of His Holy Spirit. We fall short of that in standard in many ways, so Jesus invites Christians to regularly, thoughtfully, and thoroughly examine and evaluate ourselves. If we’re faithful in looking for ways we fall short of Christ’s standard, He reveals them to us, forgives us for them, and helps us leave those sins behind.

However, our Lord isn’t afraid to discipline us if we aren’t doing the hard work of self-examination! Christ will absolutely use hard times, setbacks, failures, and seasons of disappointment to help us see our sins and shortcomings – for the purpose of repentance and transformation. Because of Christ’s great love for us, He uses seasons of adversity to reveal sinful attitudes, words, and actions to us and purify us from them. He does this because we won’t be condemned with the world. He has saved us and He will sanctify us. The question is whether we’ll examine ourselves or whether we require Christ’s discipline to see what we refuse to look for in ourselves.

“And said, ‘O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven or on earth, keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to your servants who walk before you with all their heart’” – 2 Chronicles 6:14

Let us praise God, Who is faithful at all times and in all ways! The Almighty Creator of the Universe also keeps faithful covenant with His people. It’s mind-boggling to consider, yet the Bible is the glorious testimony of the reality of God’s steadfast love despite our all-too-frequent failures, rebellions, and rejections of Him. This is what makes His covenant of grace so stunning!

That God faithfully loves us, pursues us, and remains faithful to us when we have been so unfaithful toward Him is almost impossible to comprehend. That God sent His beloved Son Jesus into this world to redeem us from our sin through His own sacrificial death on the cross stands as the ultimate expression of that steadfast love. In Christ, God established a new covenant of grace, and He invites all who believe to walk before Him with complete devotion.

We are saved by faith in Christ alone, but as those saved by God’s grace, we’re called and invited to enjoy the ongoing blessings of a life dedicated to the glory and the Kingdom of God. Our new life in Christ isn’t one of burdensome rules, but one of joy! We’re called to a life of significance and purpose, a life of relationship and friendship with our Father in Heaven, and a life of transformation and proclamation.

Commit your heart to God the Father through Jesus the Son. Walk before Him with all your heart and enjoy His steadfast love and companionship all the days of your life!