The Dual Call of a Disciple

It has been a while since I last wrote about what God is doing in our lives. The past months have been fruitful. God is good; He has work prepared for us in advance, but there is always a period where we need to be trained for the upcoming assignments. Here’s what God has shown me:

The Right Motive

Proverbs 16:2 states,

“All a person’s ways seem pure to them, but motives are weighed by the Lord.”

We can do all kinds of things with good intentions, principles, and values, but if our motives do not align with those of our Lord, they could stem from the flesh. God is the one who draws people to Himself (John 6:44), and I have learned to be more attentive to what He is doing and to align my motives with His. I used to act because others did so, because of pressure, or even to emulate those I admired. Serving the Lord should be a joy and not a burden.

People Are Not Projects

Philippians 2:4 advises,

”Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.”

Sometimes, we assume we know what others need. God gave us His most precious thing, His Son Jesus, to allow us a chance to have a restored relationship with Him. I have learned to slow down and spend time with people, to seek Him so He can reveal His plan and help me align myself with it. If relationships are so important to Him, should I not value them as well?

You Cannot Give What You Haven’t Received

1 John 4:19 declares,

“We love because He first loved us.”

What kind of love does God give us? We all experience love in our lives, and love has many meanings across different cultures and backgrounds. However, the love that comes from above is the true love. As we receive this love, God wants us to live by it and share it. Yet, during our lives, we experience hurt, disappointment, rejection, misunderstandings, and injustices. All these experiences create filters and lenses through which we live. Due to these filters, we struggle to maintain an enduring love for our brothers, sisters, or the world. Despite having every right to be offended or to hold a grudge, Jesus chose to love. Love is not easy; it means to endure suffering, as Jesus did. He encouraged us to rejoice and be thankful when we suffer for His sake.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.”

For me, suffering in love means being ready to endure mishaps from my Christian family, rejoicing that the Lord went through the same, and not holding onto bitterness.

Carrying Our Crosses

Luke 9:23 states,

”Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me.”

Being a disciple of Jesus is two-fold: It involves matters of the heart and matters of the Kingdom. One influences the other; the more we grow in the spirit and in the nature of God’s love, the better fruits we will bear in the Kingdom. I prayed to God, asking how I can practically apply this.

In Galatians 5, Paul explains, “You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love.” I understood that the flesh opposes serving with humility and love. Paul continues, “So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh.”

The acts of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, debauchery, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. Paul warns, “I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.” He adds, “Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.”

This realization struck me hard, but there is hope:

“The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”

To walk by the Spirit and deny the desires of the flesh, we must choose to follow the Spirit daily.

The beauty of the body of Christ is profound. Being alone makes it difficult to mature since there is no one to challenge our fleshly desires or to help us achieve victory over them. Today, God is using us in incredible ways, in ways and settings we never imagined. Because we have chosen to trust Him, spent time in the secret place, learned to suffer for love’s sake, and endured, we are witnessing God move through us beautifully.

My dream is that we can confidently say, with John 13,

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

What are your thoughts? Leave them in the comments!

Peace

Philippe