John 13:34-35 We love others because God first loved us.

 1 Thessalonians 4:9 But concerning brotherly love you have no need that I should write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another

Others, believers and non believers, will know God by the love that we show them. It is not enough to love God above all but also that the fruit of Holy Spirit will reflect His will in our lives by the love in all of our actions. Who does God love? everyone. He so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life with Him. God’s love makes the world go round. Without love for others in our actions we are just making noise. Carla

John 13:34-35

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”  (NKJV)

Jesus inserts this phrase into the commandment from Leviticus 19:18. The new part of the commandment is that Jesus’ disciples are instructed to love other people the way Jesus loved them—serving them like a slave would, as He does in this scene, even to the point of laying down their lives for others. The indicator of a Christian is the way they treat others. Faithlife Study Bible

The command to love was new because Jesus gave it a new standard. Moses said, “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18). Jesus said the new standard was as I have loved you. Jesus gave His disciples the example of love that they were to follow (verses 1–17). Unbelievers recognize Jesus’ disciples not by their doctrinal distinctives, nor by dramatic miracles, nor even by their love for the lost. They recognize His disciples by their deeds of love for one another. The NKJV Study Bible

John 15:12

This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 

1 John 2:7–11

Brethren, I write no new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you heard from the beginning. Again, a new commandment I write to you, which thing is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining…

Leviticus 19:18

You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.

Ephesians 5:2

And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.

Mercy (unmerited love) is the fuel (the fire) for transparency, as I no longer need to run from regret.
I own my neurosis and my failings. They do not own me. From that place, healing and reconciliation is possible. Mercy frees our heart to love and to live.

“What I regret most in my life are failures of kindness,” George Saunders confessed.

Never underestimate the power of kindness.
Beginning with kindness to yourself.

So. This week, my friends, let us remember the wardrobe—Paul’s invitation in his letter to the Colossians, “So; chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength and discipline. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love.  It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.” Sabbath Moments

Romans 6:5-1 In Jesus we choose life!

 Galatians 2:19–20 For I through the law died to the law that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me

Sin no longer rules us, the grace and mercy of God in Jesus frees us from its grip.  We choose life or death. He died so that we are free to choose the power of Holy Spirit to be transformed, precept by precept, into the image of God’s only begotten Son in whom we live. Jesus died so that through Him the world could be saved. Carla

Romans 6:5-11

5 For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, 6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. 7 For he who has died has been freed from sin. 8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, 9 knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. 10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. 11 Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (NKJV)

If the believer’s identification with Christ means being identified with His death, then it logically follows that the believer also identifies with Jesus’ resurrection. Having died and having been raised with Christ, the believer should live a new kind of life. Some say old man refers to part of us, namely our old nature, our sinful disposition. However, the word man does not refer to part of a person; instead, the word describes the entire inner person before conversion, the person connected to the sin nature of Adam. Simply put, a believer is not the same person he or she was before conversion; a believer is a new creation in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17). 

There are two reasons for crucifying the old man. First is that the body of sin might be done away with. The body of sin is either a reference to the physical body, that is, the body that is enslaved to sin, or the phrase is a figurative expression for the sin in a believer’s life. Colossians 2:11, a parallel passage, indicates that sin in a believer’s life is meant. The sinful nature of a believer is abolished when the old self is crucified with Christ. The second purpose is that we should no longer be slaves of sin. Believers are new people who are no longer enslaved to the old sinful nature.

Freed here translates the Greek word for “justification,” which is a legal term. The idea is that the believer no longer has any obligation to sin. Dying and living with Christ summarizes verses 3–7. Believe introduces a new idea. Christians must not only know that they have died to sin (verses 6–8) and have been made alive with Christ, they must also believe it.

Christ died for sin once for all. He is now alive at the right hand of God. Since believers have been joined to Christ and to His death and resurrection, they can now believe that they too are alive to God. Reckon is an accounting term that means “to take into account,” “calculate,” or “decide.” Verses 3–10 reveal the truth that believers have already died to sin because they have participated in Jesus’ death. Since believers have died with Christ and have also been raised with Him, Paul now urges Christians to consider themselves dead … to sin. Although before conversion they were still enslaved to the power of sin, now they are free to resist it. Though believers in Christ have died to sin, sin is still a problem. The sin principle is still present and can express itself through the mortal body, the body that is subject to death. The difference is that sin has no right to reign. Thus Paul admonishes the believer not to obey it. The NKJV Study Bible

Believers participate in Christ’s death, through which they experience freedom and separation from the power of sin. Believers experience the spiritual effects of the resurrection now, but they won’t be resurrected physically until Christ returns to earth.  Our old self might refer to the previous era of humanity under the effects of Adam’s sin. Alternatively, it could refer to unregenerate or fallen human nature.

We were crucified together with him, this occurred  either at the time of Christ’s crucifixion or at the time of the believer’s baptism.

The Greek phrase used here for body of sin, sōma tēs hamartias, refers to a person’s physical body or the whole person (sōma), which is still subject to sin. Paul does not mean that believers no longer sin, but that Christ’s death and resurrection have freed them from the rule of sin (verse 7). Believers are now called to use their freedom to pursue righteousness.

The Greek verb used here, dedikaiōtai, has been freed, can be translated in this instance as “justified” or “freed” (4:3). Believers are justified or acquitted from the consequences of sin. The Greek verb used here, syzēsomen for we will also live with him, is in the future tense; it may refer to an experience associated with the end times. In order to take part in this experience, believers must reject sin in the present life.

When God raised Jesus from the dead, He transformed His earthly body into a glorified human body that is no longer susceptible to death and decay. In this state, Christ represents the immortal life that awaits those who have faith in Him. The power and influence of sin manifested itself in death. Ironically, by submitting to death, Christ died to the power and influence of sin. Christ lives outside the realm of sin; though He submitted to death once, He will never do so again. Like Christ, believers live for God and are empowered to do His will. Do not let sin reign, Paul may have given this prohibition because the Roman believers were allowing sin to rule their lives. The Greek word used here, thnētos, for mortal refers to people’s regular, non-resurrected bodies, which are susceptible to death. Faithlife Study Bible

2 Corinthians 4:10

always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. 

Romans 6:2–4

Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death…

Galatians 5:24

And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 

Philippians 3:10–11

that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.

And yes, every one of us is afraid at times. Who knows all the reasons? But when it happens, we revert to a zero-sum view of the world. We believe that resources—including compassion, mercy, kindness, forgiveness, and generosity—are finite. We believe that life is short, and you get what you can. And if I don't know you, you are my enemy... or at the very least, someone to be mistrusted.

This week, my friends, let us remember the wardrobe—Paul’s invitation in his letter to the Colossians, “So; chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength and discipline. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.”
Those bearings that unlock mercy and passion and grace... and who knows, maybe even the possibility for healing and peacemaking. Sabbath Moments 

Ephesians 4:2-6 The Bond of Peace in Christ Jesus

 Ephesians 2:18 For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.

Only in the righteousness of Christ Jesus can we walk in unity with Holy Spirit to the glory of God the Father who loves us. In His mercy and in His grace we can fulfill all that He requires of us. To God all glory and honor belongs. Carla

Ephesians 4:2-6

4 I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, 2 with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, 3 endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. (NKJV)

Lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering: These are the attitudes that Jesus demonstrated when He was on earth (Philippians  2:5–8). These attitudes do not come naturally, but must be cultivated by the determination to place others above ourselves. Only the Spirit can empower us to treat people this way consistently. Bearing is close to our expression “putting up with”; however, Paul’s use of the term has positive connotations. It describes being patient with the shortcomings of others. Often we ask God to be patient with our own failings, and yet do not exercise the same type of patience ourselves. All Christians are one in the Spirit. It is our duty to keep or observe that unity, recognize it as real, and act upon it without a sectarian spirit (John 17:20–26). Endeavoring means to make every effort, to work hard at maintaining the unity of the Spirit.

One baptism may refer to the baptism in the Spirit that places all believers into the body of Christ, the church (1 Corinthians 12:13). It may also refer to water baptism, the sign or seal that a person is a member of the body of Christ. At the time of the early church, public baptism clearly identified a person as a Christian. The NKJV Study Bible

Humility and gentleness, with patience are the results of being filled with God’s Spirit.  Since believers belong to one family of God, they must bear with one another. The unity of the Spirit refers to unity that can only exist because of the work of the Holy Spirit. 

Paul portrays Christ as the personification of peace (Ephesians 2:14). The work of Christ leads to peace between God and humanity and between Jews and Gentiles (2:15).

In the New Testament, a new believer’s expression of faith is closely connected to their baptism—an outward expression of that faith.

Over all, and through all, and in all stresses the supremacy of God. He joins all people together under His sovereign rule. Faithlife Study Bible

Colossians 3:12–15

Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do…

1 Corinthians 8:6

yet for us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and through whom we live.

Galatians 5:22–23

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. 

Romans 11:36

For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen.

There are so many places (or triggers) in our world, where anger, resentment, bitterness, and distrust accumulate. And sadly, we ostracize even those close to us, without realizing what that does to our own identity. There is so much in our world that “untethers” us. There is so much, that makes us “un-remember” this revitalizing truth: that which tethers you, is the fuel that spills authenticity, wholeheartedness, and empathy, and compassion, into the world around you.

Yes. It makes the difference.

Garrison Keillor once reflected on the church of his youth: “We had a surplus of scholars, and a deficit of peacemakers.”
I would argue, that is a ratio which needs to be reworked. Or maybe this story is more personal than that. Because the bottom line is that I would like to be known as a person who sweeps anger away. Being a reconciler sounds like a pretty good way to live.
Well, my friends, here’s the good news; every single one of us have been endowed and equipped, because every single one of us has been given the name, “peacemaker”.
Too good to be true? I can relate.
So, I settle for less. Because, “That can’t be me,” I tell myself.

Which begs the question; in this churning and uncertain environment, from where do we draw our identity, and our character?
This is from Paul’s Letter to the Colossians, "So; chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength and discipline. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it."
I like the paradigm shift. So, let us pause here.
We are not mandated to design, or create, or assemble, the wardrobe.
Only that we inhabit the wardrobe we’ve been given.

You see I was inculcated in a world that required willpower. To be whatever I should be, I needed to muster enough faith, or rectitude.
Which is fine, save for the fact that our identity or wellbeing is not dependent upon earning, or justifying. It’s about being true to who we are.
Which reminds me of one of my favorite images, from a magazine ad sponsored by the Humane Society, looking for homes for homeless pets. A photo of a puppy and kitten—looking up at you from the page—catches your eye and your heart. But it's the affirmation on the top of the ad that sticks, “It's who owns them that makes them important.”
Be true to who you are…

Yes… Embrace this new life of love.
Yes… Dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you.

So. Here's my question: What would happen if we lived as if these are true?
Can we hear that today?

Anger can find a home in the shape of sadness, or brokenness, or despair, or hopelessness, or loss of control. And we give in to anger because we are afraid, or we feel out of control. Because we live from fear, it’s no wonder we wish for control. We feel at the mercy of. So, our lives simply react to chaos.
Plato reminded us that, “What is honored will be cultivated.” I like the verb honor. It’s not about belief or cognitive assent.

Yes, it begins here. It is about the choices we make.
And this I do know: When my identity is hijacked by distraction, I cannot honor.
When I am consumed by prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness, I cannot honor.
When I label or dismiss others, I cannot honor.
When anger consumes my energy and I overreact or wound, I cannot honor.
When I cannot honor, I lose sight of what is real, and authentic.

And yes, every one of us is afraid at times. Who knows all the reasons?
It’s just that when fear takes root, we revert to a zero-sum view of the world.
And fear makes us believe that resources—including compassion, mercy, kindness, forgiveness, and generosity—are finite.
We believe that life is short, and you get what you can. And if I don't know you, you are my enemy... or at the very least, someone to be mistrusted.

This week, let us remember the wardrobe.
“Dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength and discipline. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.”
And the good news? You never know, how those garments (or bearings) will unlock mercy. And how, in small and gentle ways, they will allow us to spill gifts of peacemaking. And healing. Sabbath Moments

1 Corinthians 16:13 Stand fast in faith and love!

Ephesians 6:10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 

It is only the agape love of God that saves us from ourselves.  In Christ we are freed to love God and others… it is the greatest of His gifts. Without God’s love behind our actions we are just making noise. Faith, hope and love exist in Him and the greatest of these is LOVE. We do not fight against mankind but against the powers of evil that want to kill, steal and destroy us and our faith in God. We are sealed by the Holy Spirit trust Him to deliver us safely home. Carla

1 Corinthians 16:13

Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong. 14 Let all that you do be done with love. (NKJV)

Watch is often used in the New Testament  to indicate anticipation of some future event (Mark 13:37; Revelations 3:3). Paul’s exhortation to stand fast in the faith is especially important in view of the susceptibility of the Corinthians to false teaching (2 Corinthians 11:3). Paul’s command to do everything with love serves as a balance to these strong exhortations. The NKJV Study Bible

Paul explains the more excellent way that he mentioned in 12:31. Paul’s goal is to show the Corinthians that the only proper use for gifts is through love. Faithlife Study Bible

Galatians 5:1

Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. 

Philippians 1:27

Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel, 

1 Thessalonians 3:8

For now we live, if you stand fast in the Lord.

1 Samuel 4:9

Be strong and conduct yourselves like men, you Philistines, that you do not become servants of the Hebrews, as they have been to you. Conduct yourselves like men, and fight!”

“This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine.”
In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus tells the disciples, “You are the light of the world.”
And then adds, “Let your light shine.”
Let. As is, allow. As in, the light is already there.
Jesus never said, “Create the light.”
He never said, “Make the light.”
He never even said, “Be good at light shining.”
He simply told us to get out of the way, and let the light that is already there, spill.

So. Instead of light shining classes, let us give ourselves the gift of embracing the light that is alive and well inside... the light of compassion, kindness, empathy, inclusion, hope, and authenticity.

Granted, much of that light may be “under a bushel”, but it is still there, nonetheless. And this is the power: when we know that the light is here, now, we embrace (and are fueled by) the permission to be present. Yes.
Because when we don’t see (or miss seeing) because our light is “under a bushel”, we shut down or find ways to compensate. And we project strength through clout, or cynicism, or callousness.

Yes, that light may be obscured by tragedy and stress, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t there, and cannot spill to the world around us. Yes. In this life.

At my age, it’s common to be asked about retirement (well, to be honest, first you’re asked about aches and pains), and whether or not I can afford to grow old. “What have you invested in?” I am asked.
Granted, my portfolio may be undistinguished, but I'll save my worry for later. I have other investments in mind.
Today, I want to invest in being present and wholehearted.
Today, I want to invest in being unafraid.
Today, I want to invest in bringing the better angels of this self, to a world that needs people who care about making it a better place.
More than ever, I value being around people who live well in their own skin. Because they live unafraid.
And here’s the wonderful irony. Being fully present allows me to be present for others around me. You know, as in connected. As in face to face, eye to eye, hand in hand, shoulder to shoulder. Why? Because I have nothing to prove, no one to impress and no need to manipulate or denigrate anyone.
It’s about shining a light from the candle in our spirit. “This little light of mine…”
It’s about knowing that each day we are able to continue to weave the tapestry of our lives... with a purity of spirit, and intention.
And that my friends, makes a difference in our world, where fear, and discouragement, and pessimism, are real.
Yes. It makes a difference. And I know that, with deep gratitude, for those who have spilled light on my, and in my, world. Thank you, my friends, for the light you spill. Sabbath Moments