He is the one we proclaim …
Summary: We do a lot of proclaiming, but we don’t always realize that is what we are doing. What we proclaim tells us a lot about ourselves.
When was the last time you proclaimed something?
Actually, it probably happens more often than we realize. When it comes to sports, teams are all proclaiming that they are the best. Every true fan does the same.
When we discover a new medicine that helps our “whatever,” we are happy to proclaim the news to our friends and family. If our candidate just won an election, many of us are anxious to proclaim the good news.
Obviously, there is a lot of proclaiming going on! Which brings us to the next question: Do we proclaim Jesus, too?
We tend to proclaim what we are excited about or what is important to us. Sometimes, we proclaim our belief that life isn’t fair because things aren’t going well. When things do go well, we proclaim the good things that happen.
Nothing is more important than Jesus.
Now, if you haven’t proclaimed Jesus lately, I am not trying to shame you. Instead, my hope is to encourage thinking about what that means.
For example, if I haven’t proclaimed Jesus lately, it makes me wonder, “When was the last time I thought about Jesus?”
When I think about that question, the question that follows is, “What has Jesus done for me … lately?”
You see, sometimes we fall into the trap of saying “I believe,” without really doing the believing part. The believing part is the part is the part where we find out what Jesus wants to do for us and what he wants us to do.
It’s not really complicated unless we make it so. It is not really hard unless we have a hard heart.
What Jesus has done for me — and you — is love us. What he wants us to do in return is love God and love the people around us.
Sometimes, we have a hard time being loved.
Don’t worry. Even if you don’t feel the love, Jesus still loves you. He is patient, and he is persistent. And he knows something incredibly powerful and exciting: Love changes things!
There is a lot of noise in the world, and the Father of Lies is always working to bury the Good News with the bad. Yet, the Good News is winning! The Light has entered the world. Love has come our way.
Accept it. Enjoy it. Proclaim it!
Application: Be loved and love!
Food for Thought: What are some ways to proclaim love?
What are some ways to proclaim love?
I remember something my wife mentioned about some languages that some people did to speak or express love to another person or how some people needed to or only could hear love in this other language. I think the words translated to:
1: Verbal expressions
2:Quality time
3Acts of service
4: Physical touch,
5: Gifts
6: Romantic gestures ( i might have added this last one).
I should ask her what languages it was she talked about and let her know I love her in that languag…… It might have been French or Australian.
Always best to use Italian, but French is a close second. Australian is too difficult to try.
🙂
Nicely said, Tim!
You have a very wise wife, and she is married to a very wise guy.
🙂
What are some ways to proclaim love?
John 3:16; Romans 5:8-10; Titus 3:5, God is the source of all true, giving, ongoing love. God’s love for us is fully expressed through His Son, Jesus Christ.
Jesus tells us we must stop doing things as we die to self and grow in Him.
Luke 9:23, And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.
John 12:24, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.
Since God is love (1 John 4: 8, 16), proclaiming Christ in love is about the most loving thing we can do, especially if we care about someone’s eternity.
Thank you, Rich.
Living in God is like believing in Jesus, both require participation.
Loving others is a powerful form of participating in God’s work.