The difference Love can make

You should follow my example, just as I follow Christ's (1 Corinthians 11:1, NLT).  


Dear friends:

Sometime ago I was talking to a close friend about a mutual friend of ours, and I asked, "Has he made a commitment to Christ?"

He replied, "He knows all the right words, but he doesn't have the right music."

All over the world there are what we call evangelical, orthodox, fundamental, born-again Christians who have the right words but do not have the right music.

The first-century church was so powerful that it turned the wicked Roman Empire upside down. Yet today, in this country, with more than 60 million adults professing to be born again, we as Christians have had negligible influence on our decaying society. Why?

I believe there are two main reasons.

First, we have not learned to love the way we should. If the love of Christ were to suddenly begin shining through every born-again Christian in America, masses would be running to Him. The churches would be overflowing. There would be revolutionary changes in our society. For example, if Christian husbands began to love their wives as Christ loved the church (Ephesians 5:25), the Christian divorce rate would drop to near zero.

Second, too few Christians know about and rely upon the power of the Holy Spirit. If we want first-century results in our present century, we should go back and study the book of Acts to better understand what happened.

Paul said, "Follow my example and do as I do" (1 Corinthians 4:16, NLT). If we followed Paul's example, we would see Paul's results. He had the same Holy Spirit as we have. He also said, "You should follow my example, just as I follow Christ's" (1 Corinthians 11:1, NLT).

Peter said, "Christ, who suffered for you, is your example. Follow in his steps. He never sinned, and he never deceived anyone. He did not retaliate when he was insulted. When he suffered, he did not threaten to get even. He left his case in the hands of God, who always judges fairly" (1 Peter 2:21-23, NLT). Jesus was always under the complete control of the Holy Spirit.

Remember that in the book of Acts there was great emphasis on the Holy Spirit, who is rarely mentioned in many churches today except in liturgies.

When we begin to love as Jesus loved, and when we begin to imitate Him and the first-century apostles, relying on the Holy Spirit's power instead of our own, we will see an explosion of revival in our world.

Let us hasten that day by our own faith and obedience.

Yours for helping to fulfill the Great Commission
each year until our Lord returns,

Bill Bright