The purpose of the Celebrate Recovery Ministry at First Baptist is to change the course of our lives, from following selfish ambitions and personal desires which end up causing us so much grief, to knowing and following God's perfect and Christ-centered plan and purpose for our lives which will by necessity lead us out of bondage to our old, painful resentments, hurts, addictions, and habits. Our healing is to be for His glory, not our own satisfaction.


We are once again holding in-person meetings!


Thursday, June 18, 2020

Recovery Step 4: Love is patient

Introduction
Last week in our Step 4 spiritual inventory study we talked about what it means to commune with God and other people, to know and to be known on a deep, meaningful level. We were made to commune with God and people around us. Our lifelong fulfillment, satisfaction and joy comes from that communion. Our eternal destiny in Christ is to commune with God and all who are united to Him through faith in Christ.

Tonight we are going to begin a discussion of the healing and uniting power of Godly love. What does love have to do with communion and recovery? God’s love for us is the reason communing with Him is possible. True love incorporates what is needed for communion. We are going to take an extended look at 1 Corinthians 13 which provides God’s description of love. The world tells us a very different story about what love is and as usual, the world has it all wrong. Tonight we start with two pillars of love found in 1 Corinthians 13:4a.

I encourage you to read 1 Corinthians 13:1-8 right now.

Two Pillars of Love:
God’s detailed definition of love begins with this, “Love suffers long and is kind” (1 Corinthians 13:4a). The Greek word translated “suffers long” or “is patient” means to withstand aggravation without complaint. Jesus spoke to this with Peter and the disciples, giving an accompanying illustration in Matthew 18:22-27:

Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven. Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. And when he had begun to settle accounts, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. But as he was not able to pay, his master commanded that he be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and that payment be made. The servant therefore fell down before him, saying, ‘Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt.

In our spiritual examination, how patient are you with close family? How patient are you with extended family and friends? How patient are you with acquaintances and strangers? How patient are you with those who hate you? Perhaps these are better answered in light of God’s patience with you.

On the drive down here tonight for CR to talk about loving patience, I found myself frustrated when the car in front of me on a narrow, twisting road stopped to pick someone up, blocking the road for what seemed a long time. I’m sure it was actually less than a minute, but come on, pull over and let me pass! I wasn’t very patient. Now I didn’t lay on the horn, didn’t shout obscenities out the window and I didn’t make any gestures. From all appearances I was calm. In my mind, however, I was offended at the audacity of this person to needlessly hold up traffic. I have no idea who the person was so I cannot confess to them, but I am confessing it now. It happens so easily, especially when not face-to-face with the other person; that is a real problem with social media by the way. You and I can get caught up in what we need or want to do and if someone hinders that in anyway, any patience we may have had goes out the window. When you add difficult circumstances to the mix like health issues, the loss of a family member or friend, financial stress, your addiction or dealing with someone else’s addiction it is all the more difficult to love with a patient and long-suffering type of love. It is impossible, in fact, to be patient in those situations unless you and I are clinging to Christ and yielded to the Holy Spirit.

The second pillar is to be kind and we’ll get into what that means next week.

Conclusion
How much do we really know about Godly love? Moreover, knowing about love is far different than knowing love. Communion with the Father, Son, and Spirit is recovery. Our level of loving patience and kindness toward others is an indicator of the kind of communion with have with God. Perhaps spiritual inventory reveals there is room for improvement. It’s time to let God renew your mind and heart. Spend some time with Him this week in that endeavor by reading and meditating upon 1 Corinthians 13:1-8.

Grace & Peace,
Pastor Mark

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