YOUR FAITH MUST WORK BY LOVE
For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love (Galatians 5:6).
The faith topic has been preached for many years, however, many children of God have not received what they had desired after practicing all the necessary requirements for faith to work. The doctrine on faith is great and very important for Christendom, however, faith has to work by love in order to reap the promises in God’s word. Why is it so important that faith must work by love?
“Love covereth all sins” (Proverbs 10:12). In the New Testament, it states “love shall cover the multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:8). What is your reaction when you hear some bad news about your neighbor or friend or a minister of the gospel? Some people, without even verifying the veracity of the news, will quickly pick up the phone and broadcast the bad news to other persons. The advent of the internet even spreads the news faster than ever. If you walk in love, you will refuse to aid the spread of bad news about people. Sometimes, the bad news you heard may be true but that does not mean that, you have to aid its broadcast. Walking in love means you cover those news by not aiding its broadcast. 1 Corinthians 13 talks extensively about love. We will discuss a few of the verses there.
You may have done something wrong and because of that wrong, your name is being tarnished everywhere. What you need to do is to pray and ask for forgiveness from the Almighty God and continue walking in love (Proverbs 28:13). Sometimes, you may not have actually done the so called sin but it may be the agenda of some people to malign you. To forgive people who have done wrong to you is to walk in love because love is not easily provoked (1 Corinthians 13:5). Your faith must work by love.
“Love suffereth long, and is kind; love envieth not; vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up” (1 Corinthians 13:4). Walk in love by being kind to everybody you come across. Refuse to be envious of people. You may be an expert in something, however, instead of you being appointed as the leader of a group, somebody else was chosen. This is not the time to be envious and remain quite in the group but rather you have to contribute your ideas to help your leader to succeed with the group. Walking in love is to be interested in what you can give out to help others rather than what you can get from others. Walking in love means you are not proud. Pride is trusting in one’s self and abilities instead of trusting in God and His abilities in you. You are not upset when other people are favoured but rather you are happy for them because promotion comes from above.
“Love thinketh no evil” (verse 5). Always think positive for people. Don’t imagine the worst for people because you think they deserve wrong happenings based on their way of life. “Love rejoiceth not in iniquity” (1 Corinthians 13:6). Anytime a child of God errs, the Holy Spirit prompts him/her about the error. This is an opportunity to confess your error and ask for forgiveness from God and continue in your love walk. Any committed Christian does not delight in sin.
You can have all faith to move mountains but without love, you are nothing (verse 2). Love is what strengthens faith- that is why love is the greatest when compared with faith and hope. The foundation of faith is the word of God. Faith that brings unending results is the faith that works by love. God is love and therefore there is no judgment against love. Your faith must work by love.
