As we have come to the end of the 2022 Christmas season, I hope that you were able to celebrate and worship the Birth of our Savior with family and friends. As we do close the books on 2022, my heart is warmed as I think of our church family and our continued devotion to serving and loving…even in challenging times. That said, I look forward to seeing how the Lord will use Saluda Baptist Church in the upcoming year, making disciples of Jesus Christ throughout the world.
You know, Love is at the center of all that we do as Believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. It is through our love of the Lord and our love for our neighbor that we are able to live out our faith in a meaningful and transformative way.
As a way to start this year, I would challenge each of you to read 1 Corinthians chapter 13, known by many as the “love chapter” in the Bible. In doing so, focus yourself on verses four through seven:
Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 NKJV
These verses describe the perfect model of love. The question I would ask you to consider today is this; do they describe the way you live your life? If not, perhaps there are some changes the Lord may be leading you to make starting in 2023.
Let’s choose to live our lives always showing the love of Jesus to others. Let’s choose to live our life modeled after our Lord, who loves us all.
Remember, Jesus Loves You and So Do I!!
Pastor Jeff