TRUST AND LOVE
Philemon 4-5 I always thank
God when I pray for you, Philemon, because I keep hearing of your trust in the
Lord Jesus and your love for all of God’s people. NLT
Paul was a man who
really appreciated the faith of others and supported them in prayer, his
writings, and in his conversations with others.
Even though Paul was
writing this letter while in prison, he was thinking of Philemon and wanted him
to know that he was praying for him.
Wow, what an encouragement that must have been for Philemon to know that
a man of the stature of Paul was praying for him! It makes me wonder who we could encourage in
their faith walk by praying for them and letting them know we are.
Paul heard good things
about Philemon. He heard about his trust
in the Lord and the love he had for all of God’s people. Paul probably already knew how real
Philemon’s faith was because of the time he had spent with him, but it sure
helps to know that others see the same thing as we do. It makes me wonder if others can see in us
our trust in the Lord and our love for others.
Trusting the Lord
sometimes is easier than loving others.
Love is seen in how we act towards others, say to them, say about them,
and do for them. It’s not always easy to
love others, especially those who do not return our love. Loving others who make our lives miserable is
a true test of our love for God. How do
we feel about those whom we disagree strongly with spiritually, politically,
and socially? How does our love play out
in the real world?
If we truly love the
Lord, we will trust Him in all things.
We will trust Him even when everything within us screams out at us to
not do so. If we truly love the Lord we
will love others without conditions and sacrificially.
Live so that everyone
who knows you will know your trust is in the Lord and that you love all of
God’s people.
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