To be honest, I am exhausted, tired and my brain is all over the place. To put one thought in front of another seems almost impossible. You get on social media and everyone is trying to sway you one way or another. You’re told you aren’t doing enough, you are doing too much, you aren’t saying the right thing…the list goes on. Those who are close to you might also be pushing you one way or the other. They might be telling you the same things you’re hearing from social media. What are you supposed to focus on right now — Covid-19, racism, immigration, environmental issues, police reform, or just getting through the day with your kids doing school at home (while you’re trying to work from home)?!
If you are feeling like me, you’re probably in a place of fear and uncertainty. A place of doubt. How do you begin to approach the issues that are crashing down on you? The noise you hear is so loud you want to scream to make it stop.
We Need to be Aware
In addition to all that is going on, we have an enemy at work around us. One who loves chaos, division, instigating hatred and pushing people to isolation.
Peter wrote this to the church as they encountered oppression and hostility:
“Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” — 1 Peter 5:8
Just as Peter warned the church then, he is warning us now. The devil is pushing us to act in our flesh and not the Spirit.
“The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.” — Galatians 5:19-21
I can see how the devil is at work. We have been isolated (with the Covid-19 situation) and the devil has loved that. He has been looking for ways to push us toward our flesh. He is taking advantage of the fact we are not seeing people in real time. More and more, our life happens through a screen. It’s the same screen that screams at us 24 hours a day. Satan is confusing our hearts with the mixed messages that come at us every day. We long for an answer but who can agree?
With the killing of George Floyd, there continues the escalation of hatred, discord, factions, selfish ambition and chaos. Our enemy is at work and we need to recognize him.
In comparison, what does Jesus want for us in our daily lives?
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” — Galatians 5:22-23
Jesus calls us to action and these are the fruits of our salvation. As we look at social injustice, racism, and ethnic hatred happening in the world, it’s 100% a result of sin. It’s not the result of any fruit of the Spirit.
Pastor Josh’s recent message was a great reminder of what it means to “Love our Neighbor as Ourselves.” As he said, a simple but effective action point is asking ourselves, “Would I want my neighbor to do _____to me?” If you fill in the blank, you’ll better understand what it means to answer that question. By asking this question, the heart issue is addressed.
We Need Changed Hearts
When it comes to racism in our world, we need to change our hearts toward people. We need to reach out to those being discriminated against and become empathetic to their lives. Government alone cannot make the change. Policy alone cannot change the sin issue within our hearts; we need Jesus to teach us, lead us and bring us healing. We need to view those being oppressed as God’s creation, God’s kids. If we truly want reform, we need to start with our hearts and stand up for those being oppressed. We have a sin issue we need to deal with. Changed hearts will change policy.
While in the midst of all of this, are you choosing to display the good fruit or the bad? If you don’t agree with someone, do you choose to go down the road of dissension (until you get your point across)? As you post online, are thinking about the fruits of the Spirit? More than ever, we need to extend grace to one another, learn to love each other and be there for one another.
Learning daily to love more,
Posted in A Word from the Pastor