Love Requires Sharing
Scripture: 1 John 3:17
But whoever has this world's goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him.
Lesson Objective: To understand the requirement to share our wealth with others.
In Acts Chapter 2 verse 44-45, the Early Church made sure that all had their needs met by sharing their wealth. It is impossible to have the love of God in our hearts when we are unwilling to share our resources with those who are in need. We must remember that anything that we have here on earth is not ours but a loan from God. God gives us resources so that we can be his arms on earth. God works through each of us. As Matthew 25:44 states “And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.'
Thought for today: How do you share God’s love with others who are in need?
What Do You Love?
Scripture: 1 John 2:15
Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
Lesson Objective: To understand that we are to be careful not to allow the things of the world to come between God and us.
If you ask most Christians if they would ever allow anything to come between God and them, the answer would be a definite no. However, when is the last time we got mad because someone spilled something on our favorite suit or we told someone not to sit in our favorite chair? Have we ever sworn because we found a nick in the door of our new car where someone had accidentally opened their door and hit our car? We must be careful that we do not allow our earthly possessions to become our God. These material things are of the world and may be important to the world but should only be seen as tools for us to use to glorify God.
Thought for today: Understand that all we have comes from God and is to be used for his purpose.
Friends Care About Friends In Trouble
Scripture: Job 6:14
To him who is afflicted, kindness should be shown by his friend…
Lesson Objective: To understand that we must reach down (across) and help others who may be in trouble.
There are times in our life when we observe individuals going through challenges. Depending on who the individual is often times determines how we react. If it is someone that we do not like then we may take the position of enjoying watching as they go through the challenges. If it is a friend then we may feel empathy and attempt to help them. We must understand that we will all go through times of trouble and we will need someone to comfort us and to give us a helping hand. Just as we would like a helping hand we must be ready to reach down or across and help. We are never too good to help someone in trouble.
Thought for today: Be careful that you do not enjoy someone else’s sorrow for the day will come when their sorrow may be your sorrow.