Two weeks ago, I preached about finding JOY by putting Jesus first, others second, and ourselves last. Having the mindset of a servant is a great way to follow the example of Jesus who put the Father first, gave himself up for all of us, and trusted in God to exalt him. I challenged you to respond by focusing on outdoing one another in doing good and showing honor. I’m afraid some of you, however, were focused more on whether or not your spouse or special someone was listening rather than focusing on applying the lesson to yourself. That completely misses the point both of the sermon and the biblical text, and it leads to bitterness and resentment, because we’re still focusing on how well somebody else is meeting our needs. The secret, again, is to put faith in God to meet your needs, and just do the job God gave us and modeled for us in Jesus Christ.
I know it’s hard to keep giving when it feels like you aren’t getting anything in return. But Jesus did it for us. And I know these things don’t always turn around in a week or a month or a year or ever. But another person’s failures don’t give us permission to ignore our responsibilities, even when it’s hard.
Last week, Rob talked, in part, about not giving up when things are hard. That applies to our relationships, too. So today I hope to remind us how we can live like Jesus by replacing anger with patience in a way that provides a path to reconciliation. If we are willing to do that like God does, God will bless us, and we will glorify him. And our example may then be the thing that changes hearts.
— Patrick Barber, preaching minister