Loving God's People (3)

Loving God's People
Bishop Walter S. Thomas

Hebrews 10: 24-25 says this:

"And let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another- and all the more as you see the Day approaching."

It goes without saying that often in life we feel alone. We feel as if we are standing against the storm alone, fighting the rising tide alone, dealing with the difficulty alone, and living the great moments alone.

Life has been so unkind to so many of us that we have failed to cultivate or revisit the art of being close to persons and knowing the joy that comes from true and genuine fellowship.

We can find ourselves seeking to be alone because we feel it is safer and we won't be hurt. The real truth, however, is that we are missing out on what God has purposefully put in our path: His people.

God knows we cannot make this journey by ourselves and still know the fullness of the joy God has for us. What God has for us is intricately woven into fellowship and cannot be fully experienced until we allow ourselves to embrace the community of which God has us a part.

He has given us His people and now we must learn to love again. Jesus said that we would be known as his disciples 'by our love one for another.' God allows us and teaches us how to love and just what love means.

He teaches us that within the confines of God's family, we must learn how to love and to forgive. We must learn how to care and to be compassionate. We must learn how to celebrate and to serve.

I must admit...I love the people of God. They have been my instructors in life, my companions in suffering, my cheerleaders in success, and my friends in life. The writer of Hebrews said that we should not take this love 'for granted.'

We should seek out ways to build upon it and to encourage one another. We have a community that is always looking for new ways to inspire and to edify us. In the midst of a world that wrestles with the meaning of love, God has placed us in a community that seeks to practice love.

Let us not be naïve; the church is far from perfect. It has its flaws and makes its mistakes, but it is the bride of Christ being prepared for her Lord.

A love for God's people can help us all to realize that we should not live out our lives' journey by ourselves.

Serving as the pastor of the New Psalmist Baptist Church in Baltimore, Maryland since1975, Bishop Walter S. Thomas, Sr. is the presiding Bishop of Kingdom Association of Covenant Pastors. Bishop Thomas is a certified Personal and Executive Coach. He also is the host of Empowering Disciples broadcast. For more information about Bishop Thomas, log onto www.newpsalmist.org.

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