Galatians 6:2
Have you found the longer you do something the more you
understand the task; it may be a subject in school, or a new duty at work, or
heaven help you, working on your car.
But when it comes to giving up our rights, (Jesus calls that dying to
self) we struggle, or at least I do.
Galatians 6:2, addresses this subject, but the casual reader may read
right past this challenging truth.
You may have heard it called the golden rule, but Paul the apostle calls
it the law of Christ, in verse two, “Bear one
another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” Now I have no way of knowing your heart, but I do
understand flesh, and my flesh often does not want to bear my burdens much less
those of some other person.
I have often heard preachers or teachers say that the
Christian life is impossible to live, that only Christ has lived that life, and
it requires you and I to ask Jesus to live it in us. I believe that to be totally true, in that for many years,
I’ve struggled with the teaching of Christ, and I bet you have too. It is one thing to say, I believe that
to be true, and it is a total different thing to die to your rights. Shall we look at what is required in
the fulfillment of the law of Christ?
“But I say to you who hear,
love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you,
pray for those who abuse you. To
one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes
away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either. Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes
away your goods do not demand them back.
And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.” (Luke 6:27-31) Our flesh is not going to just say Ok,
in fact, our flesh is going to get a gun, or at best tell everyone who will
listen, how that evil person has taken advantage of them.
It is easy to love those who love us, it is easy to do well
to those who do well to us, and it is easy to lend to those who we expect to
receive credit, but Jesus said even sinners do that. Most of us refuse to hear what Jesus has commanded in these
verses, and that is why He said; “But I say to
you who hear”. Jesus
took on flesh, so He understood the desires of the flesh, but not once did he
submit to His flesh. He died to
the flesh and depended totally on His Father, and that is why He left us the
Spirit of Truth so that we also would hear and submit.
Are their any benefits to giving up our rights, to putting
to death our fleshly desires?
Jesus tells us the following in Luke 6:35,36, “But
love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your
reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to
the ungrateful and the evil. Be
merciful, even as your Father is merciful. “Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you
will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give and it will be
given to you. Good measure,
pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be
measured back to you.”
I often stopped at Braum’s on my way home from Dallas, and
ordered a pint of chocolate pecan fudge ice cream that was hand packed. I wanted it pressed down, shaken together,
running over, and it was gone by the time I got thirty miles down the road. Jesus promises a life of abundance to
all who hear and give what they cannot keep, to gain what they cannot lose, by
letting Jesus live the only life you have.
From the Back Porch,
Bob Rice
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