Prisoner of God (part III)

By Odon Bulamba (summary only)

We have to humble ourselves to obey God’s rules.


WHAT IS A PRISONER OF CHRIST LIKE?

A. RESPECT THOSE WHO WORK AMONG YOU

1 Thessalonians 5:12
And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you;

This is the first condition to be called a prisoner of Christ: respect those who work among you, those given by the Lord the charge of teaching and leading you.
Wherever you go in the world, you must absolutely obey the people God has placed on your path to build you up spiritually. Watch out: to obey them is different from becoming their slaves. You must obey and respect them for God’ glory.

B. ESTEEM AND LOVE THOSE WHO WORK AMONG YOU

1 Thessalonians 5:13
And to esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake.
And be at peace among yourselves.

It is telling us here about “esteem and love” them. We must love each other and esteem each other for the Lord’s glory and also appreciate the work each one is doing.
And what is love?
The Bible tells us that love is not something just limited to our lips.
1 John 3:16-18
Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
17 But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?
18 My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.

Amen! I insist on verse 18. Love is not a speech of nice words, but our actions will speak for themselves. When I see Ange, my actions towards her will testify whether I truly love her or not, and this must be without hypocrisy. Some people are expert in hypocrisy: they can talk to you nicely and as soon as you turn your back, they threaten you. Christians must have perfect love. People in the world love each other with such a great love, but among us Christians, there is always division.
Is there a Christian somewhere who claims he is one and doesn’t know about love?
The Bible says in Hebrews that you can’t love God if you can’t love your neighbour. How will you say…?
- I love God,
When at the same time you say:
- When I see Brenda… No, Brenda… talk about someone else but not her. I can’t forget what she did to me 3 years ago. I don’t like her because she did this or that.
- Are you sure you are a Christian? The Bible commands you to love and love forgives, love is patient and love forgets everything that happened.
And this is another rule God gives us: as His prisoner we must have love.

C. BE GRATEFUL

There are ungrateful people in this world: you can serve them all their life but they will never acknowledge the fruit of your work. They will never say:
- I got something so good from that person!
They will just take everything for granted, they think it’s their right to get it.


D. LIVE AT PEACE WITH EVERYONE

The Bible also says we must live at peace with everyone. If you don’t have peace in your house, this is time to find it. If you have a problem with your husband, child or brother, it is time to sort it out.

Christians must enlighten the world and this comes from our tongue, what we say and the way we say it. Try to choose your words carefully, and find the right time to speak to the person. Don’t speak just to speak because God Himself is against rebellion. You can’t fight at home and then go and pray to God. It’s impossible. God will tell you to go back home and fix your problem first.
There is an example in the Bible: someone wanted to give God their offering and Jesus told them:
- Leave your offering here. Go back home to fix your problem and then, come back here.
So God will reject even an offering if you have not fixed up your problem. So we must know how to live at peace with everyone. And peace comes from our mouth.

E. ABOUT LAZINESS

1 Thessalonians 5:14
Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feebleminded, support the weak, be patient toward all men.

Verse 14 says that we must warn lazy people. Some brothers or sisters are lazy. The verse 14 is not telling us about not doing our regular work. Here it’s talking about someone who does not have time to meditate the Word of God, pray to God or concentrate to keep in touch with their God. We must visit those people and help them. And how can we help? Never say: “You, lazy person!” otherwise you are judging them, as if you poked your finger in their eye, the person will hate you. Although it is the truth, you can be sure that the person will hate you. So, try to find a way to talk to this person: “Brother or sister, could we make a time to read the Bible together once or twice a week to share together?” They will find it’s a good idea. In that way, you have helped them without telling them they were lazy.