We love because He first loved us. If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from Him: whoever loves God MUST also love his brother.

~1 John 4:19-21 (emphasis mine)

If how I treat people is based on how they make me feel, what they can or cannot do for me, or what they think or how they feel about me, I prove that I am more interested in being well-loved rather than being the one who loves well.

In our current society, the comforts, preferences, security, and everything that any individual desires—reigns supreme.

The godly desires for community and friendship are now an endangered precept.

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.

~John 13:34-35

Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. Bless those who curse you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.

~Romans 12:9—18

Most of us wouldn’t admit we want to be the god of our own world where everyone around us caters to whatever whim, emotion, and desire we may have at any given time. But God says that every person is innately born with this blasphemous and abominable desire. So we are.

When we first birth and cultivate this insanely and incredulous lie to ourselves, we then lie to others about who we want to think we are (all that’s listed in the passage above). But, like clouds without rain, we boast of gifts we do not give (Prov 25:14), that is, that our daily manner of living is mostly or completely empty of prayerfully and intentionally seeking to do good to others as holy vessels of our God and Father’s majestic grace.

From the day Adam and Eve ate the fruit from the only forbidden tree in the entire Garden of Eden (Gen 2:16-17), we’re all born with the same prideful sin: To be the master of our own soul, life, and destiny—to be like God and be self-sufficient and self-satisfied.

That’s why our world is filled with people who want to be the ones to define and call all the shots.

We want to feel as if we have the power and authority to define good and evil. We want to establish boundaries and precepts of how others are allowed to interact with us based on our definitions of good and evil. And we feel we have the right to demand that our perceptions of good and evil, and right and wrong be respected and followed without question (lest you make us feel bad about ourselves).

But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people…always learning and never able to to arrive at the knowledge of truth.

~2 Timothy 3:1-5, 7

As you can clearly see, the LORD defines the popular and abundantly practiced form of sinful pride: Advocating for Self (putting your preferences, your opinions, your feelings, your everything above and before considering anyone else’s) as an absolute evil; and most especially within the Body of Christ.

We understand why unbelievers are enslaved by the devil’s schemes. We know why they have no power to escape and free themselves. We also know and understand that it is only by God’s mercy and grace, often demonstrated through His children, that unbelievers are helped and comforted and led to true and eternal love (cf. 2 Tim 2:24-26, 2 Cor 4:5-6).

But why should God’s holy and dearly beloved children, whose consciouses have been washed and purified by the precious blood of Christ, once again turn to and believe the old lies of the devil?

Satan has no new tricks. He is not God. He has no power to create…anything. The only power the devil has is to recreate and reuse what’s already been created by God Almighty. So what does our enemy do? He simply repackages the same old lies he used on Adam and Eve from the beginning of time, “You are your own god”, “You are self-sufficient”, “You define what is good and evil and right and wrong”.

In our day, this old, familiar lie of the devil is repackaged this way: “Tell yourself because you have a low self-esteem, and/or are an introvert, and/or have anxieties about life, and/or are still working on yourself that you require so much encouragement, comfort, love, and understanding from others that you don’t have the capacity to think about the needs of others, let alone, have the opportunity to do so.”, “Tell yourself that the reason why you don’t daily read, study, and meditate on the Scriptures so that you may seek opportunities to share the Gospel and the love of God with the lost and/or build up members of the Body of Christ, is because you’re a people pleaser and you just have a hard time saying or doing anything that makes anyone feel bad about themselves.”

So what’s a child of the Most High God to do? Well, if you’ve re-enslaved yourself to that which Christ has freed you from; repent and live as the face of Christ to all those He’s put around you—whether stranger, friend, or foe. And if you’ve remained steadfast and immovable by abiding in Christ, then give thanks to God for His lovingkindness and faithfulness in your life, and continue to press on toward the upward call of God in Christ Jesus!

The Lord Jesus told us that all who belong to Him, truly belong to Him (Mt 7:21) enter through the narrow gate and continually walk the narrow way (Mt 7:14). The original Greek word for “narrow” used in this passage is θλίβω (transliterated thlíbō), which means: to afflict, distress. This is why only a few find it, delight in it, and abide in it (Ps 119:47, 72).

The narrow gate and the narrow way isn’t difficult for the many to find or see because it’s minuscule and dull. For all things of the Great I AM is as He is—exceptional in grandeur and magnificent in structure!

Only a few find the narrow gate and remain on the narrow way, because it is the gate and way of affliction.

[W]e have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh…So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. (2 Cor 4:7-12, 16-18)

and,

Whoever says “I know Him” but does not keep His commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps His Word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in Him: whoever says he abides in Him ought to walk in the same way in which He walked. (1 Jn 2:4-67)

It’s never about what we or others say about us that counts for anything in God’s eyes (Gal 5:6, Jer 17:9-10, Ecc 7:21-22). It’s in the daily habits of our lives (Mk 8:34) which prove the power of the Holy Spirit’s sanctifying work in the love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control of Christ, strikingly manifested in us (Gal 5:22-23).

Western Christianity is not in ICU because we’re too injured or weary from persecutions and afflictions for the sake of Christ. Western Christianity is in ICU because too many of us have become Christian picnickers rather than Christian soldiers; sitting comfortably on the sidelines, always seeking to enjoy something from the Lord, while striving to avoid the afflictions of the Lord.

So choose this day whom you will love and honor above all else: Christ or self.

Remember, it’s never too late to do the right thing—unless you’re dead.

Now, may the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ, so that you may not be ashamed at His appearing. (2 Thess 3:5, 1 Jn 2:28)

“[L]earn to set a high price upon the quiet and sweetness of your spirit, set a high price upon it, account it to be a rich jewel of great worth, as we told you, that God accounted the meek spirit to be of great price; ‘tis one way to get it, to have a right esteem of the rest of spirit, and quietness that meekness will cause in the soule…therefore saith Christ, learn of me who am humble and meek, and you shall find rest to your souls…I have found this, that when I have been able to overcome my passion, I have had the sweetest time that ever I have had in all my life: when I could deny my selfe, and exercise meekness, O the quiet of any heart, it was worth a world, and shall I loose this for a trifle, now for a toy, O the poore trifles and toyes that men and women do cast away the quietness of their spirits for, as if they were nothing worth.”

~Jeremiah Burroughs, The Saints Happinesse; Sermon XIII

Ah…the sweetness of meekness is far more impressive and far more glorious and far more heavenly than most of us can know or understand. The sweetness of meekness is complete in Christ alone. Therefore, only in Christ can it be expressed—which there are no human words nor emotions that can even infinitesimally understand a minutia of the might of this holy character of God.

“In God we trust” is easy to say. “I repent and believe in Christ alone for salvation” is also easy to say. “Jesus is Lord” is exceedingly easy to say for anyone who wants to say it. But to actually believe these simple statements—to actually believe every word that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD—to actually believe God as He has chosen to reveal Himself, through His Son (the Word of God, cf. Jn 1:1, Heb 1:1-2), and then to make these statements, well, that is something else altogether—it is truth, it is life!

The sweetness of meekness, is to abide in Christ. It is to believe Christ and everything He has revealed about Himself through His Word, from Genesis through Revelations. It is to rest, wholly rest on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God even when it dismantles or destroys the desires of my flesh, my affections for others, and my preferred perceptions of the world.

This is the sweetness of meekness: To love, worship, obey, honor, live for, and believe wholly in the mercy, righteousness, and justice of God Almighty (Jer 9:23-24). Trusting that because God alone is good and righteous, all that He does and allows, is good and righteous (Ps 119:66, Mk 10:18, Rom 3:10-11). To rest in God—to rest in all He has said and done—to rest in His holy and awesome character and might, this is the peace of God that surpasses all understanding (Phil 4:7). This is the sweetness of the meekness of Christ, “and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously”. (1 Pt 2:23, NASB95).

Meekness, as with all other God-given character traits can only be exhibited by those who abide in Christ. Godly meekness cannot be attained or maintained by the mere will or work of man. It is a gift of God, by His grace, through faith in His Son; so that as with all things from God, no man may boast in himself. But all boasting is in Christ alone and His work of redeeming those who were once lost.