My heart hurts for our friend. I, along with my husband, have been praying for our friend and thinking through the ramifications of the present circumstances. Like most anyone connected to sudden, unforeseeable adversities, I greatly desire to know what my role should be in the midst of them.
Some time in the past two days, my husband reminded me, through quoting 1 Corinthians 13:13 to me, that above all other positions into which I may be placed, I should never neglect my role as a daughter of the King. The verse reads:
And now abideth faith, hope, and charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.If you want a full picture of the kind of charity Paul is discussing in this verse, you will need to read the previous twelve verses. WARNING: The kind of charity mentioned in this passage is not at all what most of society claims to be love or charity. The verse from this chapter that stands out to me the most tonight is verse seven, which says:
[Charity] beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.I don't know what you are going through or dealing with, but I pray that you would endure and hold on tightly to your relationship with Christ. Ask Him to help you think, say, and do the right things. Remember, if you are in Him, that He is the one who bears those burdens, who remains faithful to you, who remains your Rock in every challenge you face.
As this year fades into a new one, I pray that these qualities, especially a lifestyle of Biblical charity, do not fade away from your life. "If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself. Of these things put them in remembrance, charging them before the Lord that they strive not about words to no profit, but to the subverting of the hearers. Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." (2 Timothy 2:13-15)
May these verses be a true representation of who you and I are in Christ in the coming year.
