It is this move away that is clearly demonstrated in the poetry of Lamentations (Lam 1). The sense of desolation that comes from our abandonment of God and our own faith journey. If the writer of Timothy is correct then we need to understand that love is the basis upon which everything else depends. Our own instability is a result of our misunderstanding the way of love as it is displayed within our own journey in faith and its call towards our duty and the gratitude we should feel in the presence of God's grace when we are at the lowest ebb. In looking at our own selves we need to be sure that we are standing on the ground of love as we form and continue in community - the community of God and the body of Christ.
Only by faith can we be truly grateful and undertake the burdens of duty
Our faith drives us when it is based on love to form community. In forming community we bind ourselves in love to fulfil our duty towards the maintenance of that community by giving with a generous heart all of our selves in thought word and deed. We often believe that it is beholden on others to maintain the community rather than ourselves. We lack means to commit towards any particular programme or effort that the community makes in love towards others. We believe that our contribution is of no consequence and therefore we do not give as much as God gives to us hoarding the benefits and not seeing the worth of maintaining the body. We are given everything by God for which we need to show our gratitude but we are also bound by our duty to God to show love. If this is the case then we need to offer not only ourselves but everything that we have to God's glory in gratitude to God's gifts to us. Our faith allows us to ensure that we follow Christ in love and portray God's presence with gratitude in our hearts.
The Church is not property but the hearts and minds of people. To ensure that we give everything we need in worship we need to ensure that we are able to worship. If we cannot give ourselves in sacrifice then we have not understood the enormous wealth of grace that has been given to us and we risk lamenting the loss of God's presence in our hearts. It is not for us to make the excuses that we do in order to ameliorate our guilt. We do not need guilt to be thankful for God's mercies and grace in our lives, if we have the totality of love in our hearts then we can give everything to God's purposes in our lives. We do not need the excuse of golf, bridge or any other activity to refrain from giving our service, our love and our all to God's presence in the community. Only when we truly love will we be able to give of ourselves, our lives and our time to God's, this is what is asked of us not by an organisation but by God's presence in our hearts. We give in faith to the glory of God with a grateful heart and acknowledgement of our duty to God's community.
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