OUR CHRISTIAN FAITH
Sakkie Parsons
Translated from Afrikaans: “Ons Christelike Geloof”
Someone sent me this beautiful Scripture from the Word of our LORD, and the following came to my heart—
This is the shortest complete summary of our Christian faith that I can give to someone:
1 John 3:23 “This is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.”
I read again the first part about Jesus:
1 John 3:23 “This is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ…”
And I remember—and I share with you just three of the many Scriptures I could have used:
Acts 4:12 “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to people by which we must be saved.”
Philippians 2:9-11
9 Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor
and gave him the name above all other names,
10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow—
in heaven and on earth and under the earth—
11 and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Revelation 22:13 “I am the Alpha and the Omega—the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.”
Revelation 22:14 “Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they will have the right to eat from the tree of life and may enter the city through the gates.”
I also remember when I read the last part of the Scripture passage:
1 John 3:23 “This is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us…”
And I remember Jesus’ greatest command of love that He gave us as an example:
Matthew 22:36-40
36 “Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law?”
37 Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ (This is not optional for me as His child; it is a command, an instruction—a command I must continually work on so that it becomes stronger and stronger.)
38 This is the first and greatest commandment.
39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ (This is also not optional for me as His child; it is a command, an instruction—a command I must continually work on so that it becomes stronger and stronger.)
40 All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commandments.”
As I always say, when I share this matter with someone, my great hero Paul, with the absolute conviction of the Holy Spirit in his heart, at one point underlined this Love Law of Jesus in this way:
Romans 13:9-10
9 “For the commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery. You shall not murder. You shall not steal. You shall not covet.’ And any other commandment can be summed up in this one rule: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ (This is not optional for me as His child; it is a command, an instruction.)
10 Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore, love fulfills the requirements of God’s law.”
Of course, I cannot—and I should not—love my neighbor with, for example, the same kind of love I have for my wife, my children, my family, or my friends. Each of those is a different kind of love that I can only have for them as human beings.
Now, what does the love I am to feel for my neighbor look like, because it is not optional but a command? Some people may call it one thing, others another—but I call it what our Lord has shown me: the kind of love I should demonstrate to the people He places along my path, every person with whom I am in some way involved.
I call this love “compassion” love.
Just consider some of the words the dictionary uses for “compassion”:
compassion, pity, sympathy, empathy, mercy, kindness
So, when people ask me; How can I love that person on the street, or wherever, whom the Lord has now placed along my path—someone who at this moment in my life is my neighbor and whom I have never met before—how can I suddenly love him or her?
Well, if my relationship with God is truly right, and I really have a love relationship with my Lord, I will be able to look at that person—and depending on the circumstances at that moment, I will be able to feel compassionate love for them.
Through my love for God, depending on the circumstances under which the Lord has placed this person in my life, I can look at them with compassion.
Yes, in my heart there may be one or more of the following: pity, sympathy, empathy, mercy, or kindness.
One thing is certain—
In my heart, our Lord will find in some way compassionate love for the person who is now my neighbor.
Greetings,
Sakkie