Good morning people who love others
I’ve been reading the passage in Luke where Jesus is arrested, tried and sentenced to death. We cannot begin to fathom the depth of heartache the Son of God felt as He was betrayed by those He came to save. It’s from this place of anguish that we are reminded of an important lesson.
Gifts are given to bless others; not to help ourselves feel better.
1 Corinthians 14:1 Follow the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy.
We see in this terrible passage in Luke, Jesus was asked to do three miracles; prophecy who was hitting Him (Luke 22:63-65), save Himself by coming off the cross (Luke 23:35-37) and giving the gift of salvation to a hardened criminal (Luke 23:40-43).
Jesus didn’t even respond to the first two taunts as He was not out to do His own will; in fact He put His will and comfort aside for the sake of humanity. The whole process of going to the cross and denying Himself for the sake of others is the most profound prophetic statement. Jesus’ only response was when He could ‘follow the way of love’ and bless someone else even through His own anguish and pain.
There is an important truth in here for all of us today. Gifts are given for the benefit of others and not for the furtherance of self. Let’s honour God by honouring the gifts He has given, even when it hurts.