Re: Greatest Commandment

“So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us.”

‭‭1 Thessalonians‬ ‭2:8‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Happy Monday, The Well Church Family!

Being that we are coming up to the end of “National Poetry Month” and on the cusp on this Saturday’s Long Beach Poetry Slam, I figured I’d do my devotional in poetry form. These are some of the questions I’ve been asking myself.

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Re: Greatest Commandment

Do you love your brother? Are his shortcomings yours? Do you pile upon heaps of lost ashes when he mourns? Will you burn yourself so he has ashes to mourn with? Is every sentence like a debt already paid? Is every word like substitution? Do you love your brother like worship? Like an offering? Like a song sung from newborn lungs? Like a donated lung? Like lung cancer bedside manner? Do you love your brother? Like you love watching Netflix? Like you worship your paydays? Like you love scrolling through Instagram pictures? Do you love him beyond the pictures? Do you love him enough to comment on his soul, not just his pictures? Do you picture him better? Healed? Justified? Growing? Will you sacrifice your comfortability for your brother? Brother is defined as, “one related to another by common ties or interests.” Do you look at your brother like a necktie or a twist tie? Is he common? Are you willing to offer your tongue tied phrases and listen to his? Are you so concerned with beating him at life that you don’t see that God made you a tie? Tied. Bonded. Are you interested in that? Will you invest in the interest accrued off experiencing life with him? Grafted in one another's image. Your names written together in the wet concrete of life. When you inhale, he exhales. Do you love your brother?

Main Point of the verse:

Paul loved his brothers and sisters in Thessalonica. He loved them, like he loved himself. You know how much you, love you. He wasn’t just offering them the gospel; he was offering all of his self.

Pray:

Ask God to give you the desire to even want to love your brothers and sisters at church. Ask God how you can practically love better? Ask Him if there is someone in particular you can love better. Ask Him to give you the strength to love through your actions not just your words. 

- Antonio Cortez Appling