Excel In Life

I was encouraged this morning as I sat down at my desk in the study and read from I Thessalonians chapter four.  In the very first verse the Apostle Paul inspires us to reach for the stars in our daily Christian walk.  He says: “Now then brothers and sisters, because of the Lord Jesus we ask and encourage you to excel in living a God-pleasing life even more than you already do.” (God’s Word ©)  He makes it clear that our Christian walk is a progressive activity that never ends!

In the previous chapter he focused in particular on our love walk and admonished us to “greatly increase your love for each other and for everyone else, just as we love you.” (I Thessalonians 3:12 God’s Word ©)  It is interesting to note that the love that he is talking about here is “agape” or the God kind of love.

I spent a considerable amount of time thinking on this verse this morning.  I always considered myself to have a pretty decent love walk.  In a recent conversation with my youngest daughter we talked about how our family always tended to reach out to the underdog.  My daughter even went so far as to complement me on the example that I lived before her and the rest of our family as I normally attempted to make anyone feel loved, comfortable, accepted and forgiven of any fault when I was with them.

As she said that, I immediately felt a zing of remorse as I replied that this seemed to be true with everyone except for my wife’s family over the last few years.  After the completion of our phone conversation I dwelt on that situation which I was considering to be a personal failing on my behalf.

Today as I did a little bit of research on the definition of the agape love that Paul was talking about I began to see things in a different light.  I came across a statement made by William Barclay where he noted, “Agape has to do with the mind: it is not simply an emotion which rises unbidden in our hearts; it is a principle by which we deliberately live.” (Barclay, William. 1974. New Testament Words. Philadelphia, PA: Westminster Press)

When I began to look at my difficulty in loving this one group of family members in what seems to be a continuing adversity, I had the revelation that the love that Paul describes is not something that will necessarily come automatically each time.  It is a progressive work within the realm of our daily Christian walk.  I saw that while my heart was right because of the feeling of great discomfort and emotional ache that I have been experiencing because I did not immediately respond in love in the midst of this sensitive situation, it was my mind that needed to get a handle on something that has been totally new to me. 

It is a new experience that I need to wrap my mind and the attitude of God’s love around!  It is one of those real-time life adventures and lessons that has to be experienced with the ensuing lessons learned and then catalogued into my head for future reference!  It is not a failure to dwell on, but a lesson to be successfully learned so as to help me to continually improve in becoming the well-rounded individual that God has called me to be!

Well, that revelation this morning helped me to stop feeling bad about myself in this area and realize that God is working in all of us each day for His eternal purpose and plan!  I think that it is all part of what Paul was talking about in I Thessalonians 4:1 when he encourages us “to excel in living a God pleasing life even more than you already do.”  It is not an impossible request.  It is just a call for us to stay humble and open to His loving correction and subsequent personal growth!  Have a great week.  Stay in tune to His Word, and keep asking yourself… “What am I expecting to LEARN today?”