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| Photo by Ben White on Unsplash |
We used the
simple SOAP acronym as a devotional guide... which stands for:
- Scripture—what verse or short section caught my attention today?
- Observation—what can I briefly notice that the passage specifically says?
- Application—what will I do differently as a result of having read this today?
- Prayer—what will I ask the Triune God to do for, in, and through me today?
S = “The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure
heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Certain persons, by swerving
from these, have wandered away into vain discussion, desiring to be teachers of
the law, without understanding either what they are saying or the things about
which they make confident assertions.” (v.5-7)
O = Certain persons that Paul chooses
not to name had “swerved” (ektrépō). But
from what things did those “certain persons” swerve? They had turned away from
love. The love that flows from…
- A pure heart
- A good conscience
- A sincere faith
Some in Ephesus had swerved
from these three things and thought that they should be teachers—but in
reality—nothing about them was worthy of being passed on to others. Today, in
the Twitter world we sometimes talk of “sub-tweeting” which is a way of calling
out or criticizing someone without mentioning their name in your tweets. Does
it make you wonder who Paul was writing about? This turning from the priority of love was an issue that
needed to be repeatedly addressed in Ephesus. This lesson was the very
issue mentioned by the risen Christ to the church in Ephesus (Rev. 2:4).
A = Am I a pastor or a teacher? If so then I should
ask myself how I am doing with these three issues of love? Do I make confident
assertions about things I don’t understand? I hope not. Do I argue for the sake
of arguing or waste time in baseless speculation? I better not. This passage
challenges me to stay on target…to live a life of love from...
- a pure heart (cleansed and without competing affections),
- a good conscience (exercising confession and relational repentance) and
- a sincere faith (authentic trust in Jesus).
Because
my conscience tells me that I can’t save myself, I will fully rely on Jesus to
reproduce his character in my heart. So, if my heart is pure, my conscience good,
and my faith sincere can I conclude
that Christ’s love will issue forth from my life? Make it so.
P = O Lord Jesus, let me relate all I do
today to these three issues of love…for the glory of your name and the good of
those around me. My ministry cannot be effective without it starting affectively in
my own heart. Lord, let your love transform and bring purpose to my life and may it overflow
to others through me.
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