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As
obedient children, . . . be holy in all your conduct, because it is
written, "Be holy, for I am holy." And if you call on the
Father, who without partiality judges according to each one's work,
conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear (1 Pet.
1:14-17). You shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect
(Mt. 5:48).
In
this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest:
Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does
not love his brother (1 Jn. 3:10).
To
be God's child is great, and it has many benefits that we can feel
thrilled to be able to enjoy. But there's another important and
inescapable side to this relationship: God's children have
responsibilities to fulfill.
What
do we expect from our own children? It's heartbreaking to listen to a
elderly parent talk about a son or daughter who finished school and got a
job, then moved out of the house and hardly ever stops by to visit or
even telephone Mom and Dad. We grieve with the parent of a rebellious
17-year-old who seems intent on playing the party scene and turning his
back on God and the church. And we're sympathetic with the parents of a
preschooler who runs away in a store when they say, "Come back
here!"
I
don't know how it was around your house, but when I was growing up one
thing was clear: Being a child involved giving as well as taking. In
spite of my stubborn tendency to do otherwise, I was expected to treat my
parents with proper respect, to trust their judgment, to listen to them
attentively, to do what they said to do (such as chores), and to treat my
brother and sister well. I also learned that doing all those things was a
lot more enjoyable if I was aware of my parents' love and their desire to
help me, not hurt me.
Now
that I am deep into parenthood, I have the perspective from the other
side. And I realize how much it must have pleased my parents when I
treated them right (which I didn't always do). And I also realize that
the response I desire most from my children is not just obedience but an
expression of love.
What
does God want from us?
The
New Testament contains many exhortations to exhibit the right conduct or
develop the proper attitudes. And very often those commands are within
the context of our relationship with God our Father and the family of
believers. Let's look at several examples.
The
Father desires our love most of all. What did Jesus say when a legal
expert asked Him, "Which is the greatest commandment in the
Law?" (Mt. 22:36 NIV). Jesus replied, "'Love the LORD your God
with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This
is the first and greatest commandment" (vv.37-38).
It's
one thing to go through the motions of obeying out of duty, but it's
quite another to serve God out of genuine devotion, telling Him often
that we love Him. Have you told your heavenly Father recently that you
love Him?
What
this means to our heavenly Father was illustrated to me by one of my sons
when he was very young. He had learned the mechanics of saying, "I
love you," by mimicking Mom and Dad, but on one occasion his words
took on special meaning. One evening while we were playing together, she
ran to me, put his little arms around my neck and said, "I love you,
Daddy!" That moment was precious to me. His words went straight to
my heart because they were sincere, unrehearsed, and pure.
As
we think about who our heavenly Father is, how much He loves us, and all
He does for us, we too will find ourselves running to Him in prayer and
saying, "I love You, Father!"
The
Father deserves honor. At the end of the Old Testament, the Lord asked
the leaders of His chosen people some soul-searching questions:"A
son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am the Father,
where is My honor? And if I am a Master, where is My reverence?"
(Mal. 1:6).
We
learned earlier of the tremendous privilege we have to call the almighty
Creator by the intimate term Abba. But we must never forget who He
is--the sovereign Lord of all that exists.
To
honor the Father also means to recognize that He is the provider of all
that we have and enjoy. We are to be "always giving thanks to God
the Father for everything" (Eph. 5:20 NIV).
The
Father wants us to imitate Him. Pastor and author Erwin Lutzer writes,
"If a man says, 'My father is Mr. Jones,' you look at his face to
see if you can see any resemblance to his father. So when a believer
says, 'I am a son of God,' we should expect that his life will have at
least some trace of the character of God" (You're Richer Than You
Think, Victor Books, p.55).
The
apostle Paul wrote, "Be imitators of God as dear children. And walk
in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us" (Eph.
5:1-2). We are imitators of God also when we are merciful as He is
merciful (Lk. 6:36).
The
family resemblance is seen in our clean break from a godless way of life.
We are to be clearly different from people who are not members of God's
family. In 1 John we read, "This is how we know who the children of
God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do
what is right is not a child of God" (3:10 NIV).
Although
we are "born again" by faith (Jn. 3:3,16), we demonstrate the
reality of that faith by acts of obedience to God. James said,
"Faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead" (2:17). Jesus
taught, "Whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother
and sister and mother" (Mt. 12:50). He also said, "Not everyone
who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he
who does the will of My Father in heaven" (7:21).
Our
pattern of behavior, therefore, whether acts of obedience or
disobedience, reveals to whose family we belong.
What
responsibilities do we have to other members of the family? Romans 12:5
reminds us that we are closely linked to other children of God. We may
not recognize it or consistently act like it, but all who come to God
through faith in Christ are members of the same family: "We, being
many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one
another."
It
must hurt the Father to see His children at odds with each other. It
hurts me deeply when my children fight. It is painful to see them not
wanting to help each other. How much more it must make our Father's heart
ache to see the kind of "warfare" that goes on among believers.
As
members of a spiritual family, we must put aside our self-centeredness
and look out for the interests of one another. Our responsibilities
include:
We
are to love one another. The all-encompassing obligation we have to other
children of God, just as in our relationship with God, is love (Rom.
13:8; 1 Cor. 13; 1 Th. 3:12; 4:9; 1 Pet. 3:8; 4:8; 1 Jn. 3:11,23;
4:7,11-12; 2 Jn. 1:5).
We
are to honor one another through service (Rom. 12:10; Gal. 5:13; 1 Pet.
4:10).
We
are to be generous and hospitable (Rom. 12:13; 1 Pet. 4:9). We are to do
all we can to build up one another spiritually, not tear each other down
(Rom. 14:13).
We
are to teach each other (Rom. 15:14).
We
are to be truthful (Eph. 4:25; Col. 3:9).
We
are to be kind and forgiving (Eph. 4:32; Col. 3:13).
We
are to comfort one another in times of need (1 Th. 5:11).
We
are to challenge each other to live holy lives (Heb. 3:13; 10:24-25).
We
are to pray for one another (Jas. 5:16).
Are
we fulfilling our responsibilities joyfully? We've listed many
obligations that we have to our heavenly Father and to our brothers and
sisters in Christ. As we read such a list, we may tend to feel like a
child who just received a list of chores to do on Saturday morning before
he can go play with his friends.
That's
why we need to remind ourselves continually of what will motivate us to
do all these things with the right attitude--a recognition that we are
family. We are part of a spiritual family headed by a loving Father who
out of love for us has gone to great lengths, even sacrificing His own
Son Jesus Christ, to bring us into His family.
As
we think of all He has done for us and how much He loves us, our hearts
and lives cannot help but respond with the kind of loving words and
actions that will please Him and create a closer family among those who
also have been adopted by Him.
Curtis
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