Light Up the Darkness with His Love
Have you ever stopped to think about what really shows people that we belong to Jesus? Is it how often we go to church? How well we know Scripture? How loudly we worship? All of those things have their place. But what if one of the clearest signs that Christ has truly changed our lives is simply how we treat people, especially when loving them isn't easy? The Apostle Paul deals with this in Romans 13. By the time Paul gets to this chapter, he has already walked us through our sin, God's grace, justification through faith, life in the Spirit, and the mercy of God. Then he turns to how Christians should actually live.
In essence, Paul says, “Now that you know what Christ has done for you, your life ought to look different.” Salvation isn't only about where we're going when we die. Salvation ought to affect how we're living while we're here. So, what should a believer's life look like? Paul gives us a simple answer: Love people. Romans 13:8 (NKJV) says, “Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law.”
Now, let me be the first to say, that is easier to read than it is to live! Paul isn't talking about loving only the people who love us or treat us the way we want to be treated. He's talking about “agape” love. That's the kind of love God showed us. It's selfless and sacrificial. Agape loves when it's inconvenient. Agape loves when it's costly. Agape loves when it's undeserved. And that's where this gets personal. It's easy to say, “I love everybody.” But what happens when somebody gets on my nerves? What happens when somebody disappoints me? What happens when I've been good to somebody, and they haven't been good to me? Can I still love them like Christ? Love shouldn't just be something we talk about. Love should be how we live.
That's why Paul shifts the conversation in Romans 13:11 (NKJV), “And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep.” In essence, Paul is saying, Wake up! He's warning believers about becoming spiritually comfortable, complacent, and careless. We can still go to church and be spiritually asleep. We can sing the songs, quote Scripture, say, “Praise the Lord,” and know when to say “Amen,” yet become comfortable with things that don't look anything like Jesus. That's why Paul tells us in Romans 13:12 to “cast off the works of darkness” and “put on the armor of light.” There are some things we've simply got to take off: old attitudes, old habits, unforgiveness, bitterness, jealousy, sinful behavior, and anything that contradicts the Christ we claim to follow.
Here's a question worth asking ourselves: Does the Jesus I profess publicly match the life I live privately? Our conduct ought to match our confession. Jesus said in John 8:12 (NKJV), “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” If we're following the Light, shouldn't there be some light showing up in us? People ought to encounter something of Jesus when they encounter us: His compassion, His patience, His forgiveness, and especially His love. Not because we're perfect, but because we're being transformed.
My brother and my sister in Christ, let us put on Christ! Paul tells us in Romans 13:14 (NKJV), “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.” I love that picture. Every morning when we get dressed, we decide what we're going to put on. Spiritually, every day, we need to put on Jesus. Let His mind govern us. Let His love shape us. Let His light define us. Let His Spirit empower us. This world already has enough darkness, and it doesn't need Christians blending into the darkness around them. It needs to see Jesus. So let's wake up. Let's take off the things that don't look like Him, and put on Christ. When somebody gets on your last nerve, when loving somebody becomes inconvenient, or when you're given every reason not to show grace, remember that's exactly when your light can shine the brightest. Because when we put on Jesus, we love right, we live right, and we walk right. The world is dark enough already. We have been called to light up the darkness with His love.
In essence, Paul says, “Now that you know what Christ has done for you, your life ought to look different.” Salvation isn't only about where we're going when we die. Salvation ought to affect how we're living while we're here. So, what should a believer's life look like? Paul gives us a simple answer: Love people. Romans 13:8 (NKJV) says, “Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law.”
Now, let me be the first to say, that is easier to read than it is to live! Paul isn't talking about loving only the people who love us or treat us the way we want to be treated. He's talking about “agape” love. That's the kind of love God showed us. It's selfless and sacrificial. Agape loves when it's inconvenient. Agape loves when it's costly. Agape loves when it's undeserved. And that's where this gets personal. It's easy to say, “I love everybody.” But what happens when somebody gets on my nerves? What happens when somebody disappoints me? What happens when I've been good to somebody, and they haven't been good to me? Can I still love them like Christ? Love shouldn't just be something we talk about. Love should be how we live.
That's why Paul shifts the conversation in Romans 13:11 (NKJV), “And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep.” In essence, Paul is saying, Wake up! He's warning believers about becoming spiritually comfortable, complacent, and careless. We can still go to church and be spiritually asleep. We can sing the songs, quote Scripture, say, “Praise the Lord,” and know when to say “Amen,” yet become comfortable with things that don't look anything like Jesus. That's why Paul tells us in Romans 13:12 to “cast off the works of darkness” and “put on the armor of light.” There are some things we've simply got to take off: old attitudes, old habits, unforgiveness, bitterness, jealousy, sinful behavior, and anything that contradicts the Christ we claim to follow.
Here's a question worth asking ourselves: Does the Jesus I profess publicly match the life I live privately? Our conduct ought to match our confession. Jesus said in John 8:12 (NKJV), “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” If we're following the Light, shouldn't there be some light showing up in us? People ought to encounter something of Jesus when they encounter us: His compassion, His patience, His forgiveness, and especially His love. Not because we're perfect, but because we're being transformed.
My brother and my sister in Christ, let us put on Christ! Paul tells us in Romans 13:14 (NKJV), “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.” I love that picture. Every morning when we get dressed, we decide what we're going to put on. Spiritually, every day, we need to put on Jesus. Let His mind govern us. Let His love shape us. Let His light define us. Let His Spirit empower us. This world already has enough darkness, and it doesn't need Christians blending into the darkness around them. It needs to see Jesus. So let's wake up. Let's take off the things that don't look like Him, and put on Christ. When somebody gets on your last nerve, when loving somebody becomes inconvenient, or when you're given every reason not to show grace, remember that's exactly when your light can shine the brightest. Because when we put on Jesus, we love right, we live right, and we walk right. The world is dark enough already. We have been called to light up the darkness with His love.
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