R U Making Time For Others?

R U MAKING TIME FOR OTHERS?

It is written that when a person has faith, there must always be works; works always follow faith; "For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also." (James 2:26)  What I want to expound on today is that in order to do these works, they involve interaction with other people, typically someone insufficent in some way or some thing.  In order to perform a work of any kind, we must subtract time out of our personal wants and needs and add it to other people.  We must make time for others.  When we make time for others, we make our actions benefit others.  "And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you." (Eph. 4:32)  It is easy to say "I forgive you", the hard part may be meaning it; but as we want the Father to forgive us, so we must forgive all from the heart.  It feels good to be on the receiving end of someone's forgiveness!  Ever wrong someone and look for them to forgive you?  Give them this love, it is a tenderheartedness!  It is one of many ways to be kind to others!  "For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." (Matt. 6:14 - 15)  "And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.  But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses." (Mark 11:25 - 26)  "To whom ye forgive any thing, I forgive also: for if I forgave any thing, to whom I forgave it, for your sakes forgave I it in the person of Christ;" (2 Cor. 2:10)  As you can see, forgiveness is a big thing to make time for amongst our neighbors.

Be longsuffering of other people's indiscretions; some have to train themselves out of a sinful habit.  Be merciful and think humbly; these are Christian characteristics that please God.  "Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye." (Col. 3:12 - 13)  The bible has so much about forgiving everybody, it must have been just as common not to then as it is today!  "I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." (Eph. 4:1 - 3)  See here how Paul calls for unity of the church through godly living; that just doesn't happen because we're Christians.  We have to make time to work at it!  Bonding in unity as Christians means we take time out to knit together, as spouses do in a marriage.  Just as making time in a marital relationship bears fruit, so does expending time to be brothers and sisters in Christ.

"For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: And that He died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them, and rose again." (2 Cor. 5:14 - 15)  Real short: be considerate!  Christ was so very considerate of us in our sinful state, condemned to hell, that He came as a lowly child to a poor carpenter and his wife, and fulfilled His mission from the Father to die for all our sins, that we who believe on Him might be free of them, thus being saved for heaven from the boughs of hell.  He made time out of this small section of eternity to consider us and our fate, and resolved it in His years on earth until His death on the cross!  He made time out for us undeserving sinners, that we might live in His kingdom!  So too, we should make time out to unite with our like minded brothers and sisters and children in Christ.

When we became saved, we became a work in progress, not for destruction as we were the old man/woman, but as a new creature, we for the rest of our lives must now make time to be holy to others, for we are ambassadors of Christ now, not only for the sake of the unsaved, but also for the sake of edifying our fellow Christians.  One of the hardest things for anyone to put behind themselves is lying; telling untruths.  If any among us has practiced lying in the past, they must make time to consistently practice telling the truth, that this may be proven to be of the old nature.  That, too, takes time that we have to make.  "And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; and that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.  Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another." (Eph. 4:23 - 25)  "Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:" (2 Pet. 1:10)

"Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father; knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God." (1 Thess. 1:3 - 4)  To remember without ceasing takes all our time, don't you think?  Paul writes to the Thessalonians of remembering our election of God.  That means a lot of things!  God's choosing us is sovereign, pretemporal, and for salvation!  As Paul has put it here, indeed, for any Christian, this should be a labor of love!  We are God's ambassador every day!  Act with grace toward others!  "Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied." (1 Pet. 1:2)

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.  And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.  If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.  Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another," (Gal. 5:22 - 26)  As Christians, we are expected to demonstrate possession of the fruits of the Spirit.  We don't just be loving, joyous, peaceable, longsuffering, etc. in church, but every day of our lives.  Christians no longer practice behavior of worldly affections and lusts of carnal and material things.  We make time to war with those things and the old nature and subdue them in order that we may walk in the Spirit, and not according to the flesh.  I do not seek a title like "Prophet" or "Apostle" or "Pastor" that I might call attention to myself as a holy person of God.  If someone earn such titles in their denominations, well for them.  For me, it is vain glory; just call me Rich, there's no glory in that; I'm being meek that way.  I once stopped calling a priest "Father" when I first got saved, and I left that church soon after, but I mention it because it only took 2 weeks for him to stop calling me by my name!  He was proud of his title, offended that I didn't call him "Father"!  When we make time to practice the fruits of the Spirit amongst our neighbors, then our brothers and sisters and children in Christ know us by our behavior!  "But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy." (James 3:17)  "(For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;) (Eph. 5:9)  "Every branch in Me that beareth not fruit He taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, He purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit." (John 15:2)  Be fruitful, my family in Christ; be fruitful!

I want to say at this juncture that misunderstandings hurt more Christians among one another than most any other thing, because the misunderstandings are able to permanently or temporarily separate those meant to be family in Christ, and we must make time to clear things up!  One time I gave what I thought was a sister in Christ a few genuine, innocent compliments, and she de-friended me on a social website.  I mentioned it to a brother in Christ, and he brought up that she probably got dirty minded and thought I was less than innocent in my compliments!  But since I am no longer able to contact her, I cannot clear up the misunderstanding, so you see, she failed to make time to give me a chance to vindicate myself.  Many come to Christians for the expected consolation and comfort they need when losing loved ones, physical abilities, or because of some other loss.  Then we kick in that love, and make time for our neighbor, and they enjoy our fruit of the Spirit!  "If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind." (Phil. 2:1 - 2)

"But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?  My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth." (1 John 3:17 - 18)  As Christians we must make time to demonstrate that we practice what we preach.  Just talking doesn't show our concern for others, we must take the time to get involved with others, that they may know our words match our deeds!  If I tell someone I have a bunch of clothes just their size, but I don't give it to them, and their clothes are patched and worn, it certainly doesn't tell them I'm a Christian.  If I take the time to bring them the clothes I have in their size, so they can get rid of their old clothes, THEN I have demonstrated in their eyes that I am a Christian not just by word, but by DEED!  "If there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy gates in thy land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thine heart, nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother: But thou shalt open thine hand wide unto him, and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his need, in that which he wanteth." (Deut. 15:7 - 8)  "He answereth and saith unto them, 'He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him do likewise.'" (Luke 3:11)  "And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them: for with their mouth they shew much love, but their heart goeth after their covetousness." (Ezek. 33:31)  See here how Ezekiel words it; if you don't give, the needy see you as covetous!  "If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, and one of you say unto them, 'Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled'; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?" (James 2:15 - 16)

If our love be given to our neighbor(s), let it show to them as being genuine, not a labor, chore, or as not from the heart; "Let love be without dissimulation.  Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.  Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another;" (Rom. 12:9 - 10)  If a child can discern whether you care about them, or love them, how much more can an adult readily discern it!  "Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:" (1 Pet. 1:22)  Showing love takes time; make that time, that they may know you truly do love them!

"I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.  So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.  Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour.  For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building." (1 Cor. 3:6 - 9)  Make time to cooperate with one another, particularly in the winning of souls to Christ. Paul planted and moved on, expecting God to make the increase.  Apollos edified, and if he was there or not when the increase happened, it didn't matter.  What mattered was that Paul and Apollos worked together for the Lord's harvest of lost souls.  Those souls were no longer lost, because Paul and Apollos made the time to cooperate toward the goal of the increase.  "We then, as workers together with Him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain." (2 Cor. 6:1)  Let us make time to cooperate now that every soul we contact may have opportunity to be saved, for the day of grace is now and every day a soul is saved.  We cooperate as a united body of Christ to win souls into His grace!

When we make time for others, we need be mindful to be Christ-like all the while doing so; after all, we call ourselves Christians!  It means we're are attempting to follow Him, His way, to be like Him. He said, "I am the way".  We must take time to focus on being like Him.  "And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given Himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour." (Eph. 5:2)

"Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.  Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.  For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.  But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another.  For every man shall bear his own burden." (Gal. 6:1 - 5)  Living under grace is not license, but rather a life of love and service, not just to one another, but to Christ.  We need daily to make time to watch for our family in Christ, if they make a mistake, and we catch them red-handed, so to speak, that we lovingly correct them and restore them, knowing humbly that we too, are sinners.  It is harder to make time for an unsaved sinner, because they are easily offended, and take longsuffering and prayer to be led to Christ and salvation.  Let us make time to be Christ-like toward others in love, as He has called us to be. God loves a cheerful giver, even of our time...