“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations…teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20, NASB).
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Contents:
1) Self-Love (Jerry Fite)
2) Escaping Satan’s Clutches (Ken Weliever)
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Self-Love
Jerry Fite
Is loving self a sin? Should a Christian eliminate the love of self from his or her thinking?
Answering these questions may be a little tricky. But relying on the principle that truth harmonizes in all circumstances, we can answer these inquiries for ourselves Scripturally.
Loving self was one of two fastening nails upon which hung the Law of Moses and the Prophets. Jesus reminded his questioners, as they tested Him regarding the greatest commandment, the great and first commandment is to love God with all our heart, soul and mind. The second commandment is to “love thy neighbor as thyself” adding, “on these two commandments the whole law hangeth, and the prophets” (Matthew 22:37-40). Paul reminds the Christians in Rome that the section of the Law dealing with one’s relationship with man “is summed up in this word, namely, ‘Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself’” (Romans 13:9). James encourages Christians that when they “fulfill the royal law…Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, ye do well” (James 2:8). If we do well in carrying out the Lord’s command to love our neighbor as ourselves, must we not maintain a love for self?
A husband’s self-love is essential for maintaining a healthy relationship with his wife. Paul connects the Lord’s perspective of His body, the church, with the husband’s attitude toward his wife. He exhorts, “Even so ought husbands also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his own wife loveth himself: for no man ever hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as Christ also the church” (Ephesians 5:28-29).
If a Christian does not have a healthy love for self, how will he or she relate compassionately with others? How will a husband relate positively in his care and protection of his own wife if he does not have a healthy love for self in caring for his own body? Surely, we can see that God demands the Christian to maintain a sound love for self in his or her walk with Christ.
While the love of self should be securely rooted within us, we must guard against it succumbing to “selfish root rot.” We must continually apply a healthy dose of “loving God first,” allowing it to absorb into our hearts. This encourages a healthy root system characterized as “not my will, but Thy will be done.” Self-love flourishes in responding compassionately and helpfully when loving God first surrounds the root of self-love.
Paul warns us grievous times will occur when people are “lovers of self” (2 Timothy 3:2). These are the times when self-love spreads without a godly perspective. A perverted self-absorbed perspective crowds out a healthy self-love. The priority of being “lovers of God” is sadly absent. People are not lovers of God but “lovers of pleasure” and “lovers of money” instead (2 Timothy 3:2,4). Ungodly self-absorption issues into “boastful,” “haughty” and “unthankful” people who believe all others exist to praise and admire them. Woe to the poor soul who doesn’t feed the self-absorbed cravings, the lover of self will betray you as a “traitor” and discard you in “slander” (2 Timothy 3:3). This “implacable” (2 Timothy 3:4) headstrong “my way or the highway” lover of self will not generate healthy relationships.
When the love for God is absent in the heart, worldly self-absorbed living will arise. Loving others as you love yourself is Scriptural. Make sure your self-love is rooted first in the love of God!
— Via Glad Tidings, Vol. XXVIII, No. 46, November 18, 2018
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Escaping Satan’s Clutches
Ken Weliever
Not long after daylight on July 4th our daughter, Rachél, was attacked by an alligator in the shallow water of the Hillsborough River at her Temple Terrace home.
Rachél instinctively screamed but the gator wouldn’t let go of her right leg. After hitting it with a rock, she punched it in the nose with her fist. But the gator held on. Tight.
Fearing she was about to be dragged into deeper water, Rachél described to Bay News Nine reporter Matt Lackritz who interviewed her on Friday, how in desperation she reached her hands to either side of the gator’s jaws and pried them open. After crawling back to her yard, Rachél wrapped her leg in a towel, and called a neighbor to take her to the hospital.
In describing the rush of adrenaline she felt, Rachél told Matt, “I was not ready to leave my family yet.”
By God’s grace, Rachél is home from the hospital recovering after a successful surgery for a fractured Fibula, as well as tissue damage. Thankfully, no major nerves were severed. The prognoses is 6-8 weeks before the bone is healed.
Rachél’s spunk, determination, and strong will allowed her to escape the gator’s clutches. In a similar way, we need the same resolve to escape the Devil’s attacks on our soul.
While not described as an alligator, the Bible does depict the Devil as an old serpent, a roaring lion, and a great, fiery dragon (Rev. 20:2; 12:3; 1 Pet. 5:8) who seeks our harm. The metaphors are designed to warn us about the danger he poses. The seriousness of his attacks. And the need to be wary of him.
The Bible speaks of our struggle against Satan’s schemes and how we wrestle with his temptations. Resisting is not always easy. We must fight against his wiles (Eph. 6:10-17).
Satan seeks to ensnare us today with the age old tactics of the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life (1 Jn. 2:15-17). It requires our determination and resolve to resist. To fight against feelings we know that are injurious to our spiritual health and well-being.
Today the devil has so many people in his clutches. It may be an addiction. A harmful habit. A destructive relationship. A crippling emotional dependency. Or even spiritual indifference.
Unlike the alligator whose grip is obvious, hurtful, and life threatening, Satan employs means that are more subtle. Through delusion, deception, deceit and disinformation, we may find ourselves in his grip. But it doesn’t seem so bad. It might even feel fine. That’s why the Bible warns us to be alert. Be vigilant. Be watchful. And to pay attention to the devil’s attacks. To be ready to fend off his advances.
When you find yourself in the devil’s grasp, you need the resolve and courage Rachél possessed in fighting the gator. Are you ready to scream? To punch him in the mouth? To pry away his grip from your heart, mind, and soul? To do whatever it requires to find release and be rescued from certain spiritual death?
Like the gator, the Bible says Satan will devour us if we don’t resist and fight against his aggression. The apostle exhorted, “fight the good fight of faith.” That includes fighting against spiritual temptation. Sinful desires. And Satan’s schemes.
We are so relieved and grateful that Rachél was spared from this awful ordeal. In the same spirit, we pray that you can fend off the Devil’s dangerous attacks on your soul. That you can be successful in your spiritual struggles. And that you can strengthen your resolve to live for the Lord.
“Be strong and of good courage” (Josh. 1:6).
— Via Articles from the Knollwood church of Christ, July 2024
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The Steps That Lead to Eternal Salvation
1) Hear the gospel — for that is how faith comes (Rom. 10:17; John 20:30-31).
2) Believe in the deity of Jesus Christ, the Son of God (John 8:24; John 3:18).
3) Repent of sins. For every accountable person has sinned (Romans 3:23; Romans 3:10), which causes one to be spiritually dead (Ephesians 2:1) and separated from God (Isaiah 59:1-2; Romans 6:23). Therefore, repentance of sin is necessary (Luke 13:5; Acts 17:30). For whether the sin seems great or small, there will still be the same penalty for either (Matt. 12:36-37; 2 Cor. 5:10) — and even for a lie (Rev. 21:8).
4) Confess faith in Christ (Rom. 10:9-10; Acts 8:36-38).
5) Be baptized in water for the remission of sins (Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38; 22:16; 1 Pet. 3:21). This is the final step that puts one into Christ (Gal. 3:26-27). For from that baptism, one is then raised as a new creature (2 Cor. 5:17), having all sins forgiven and beginning a new life as a Christian (Rom. 6:3-4). For the one being baptized does so “through faith in the working of God” (Col. 2:12). In other words, believing that God will keep His word and forgive after one submits to these necessary steps. And now as a Christian, we then need to…
6) Continue in the faith by living for the Lord; for, if not, salvation can be lost (Matt. 24:13; Heb. 10:36-39; Rev. 2:10; 2 Pet. 2:20-22).
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Tebeau Street
CHURCH OF CHRIST
1402 Tebeau Street, Waycross, GA 31501
Sunday: 9 a.m. Bible Classes and 10 a.m. Worship Service. Congregational Song Service: 5 p.m. for every first Sunday of the month.
Wednesday: 7 p.m. Bible Classes
evangelist/editor: Tom Edwards (912) 281-9917
Tom@ThomasTEdwards.com
https://thomastedwards.com/go/all.htm (This is a link to the older version of the Gospel Observer website, but with bulletins going back to March 4, 1990.)