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Scripture:
The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray. Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.
Consider:
My kids are in a phase where they are, quite literally, measuring themselves against one another. Perhaps it’s inevitable in a family of three children to look at one another with both love and an edge of competitiveness - and in our family, the competitiveness has currently turned to who is the tallest and the strongest. Right now, that is our oldest simply because she is the oldest, but I believe she is beginning to acknowledge the reality of her situation, which is that she is the oldest but she’s also a girl which means, most likely, she will eventually lose both the title strongest and tallest. Though in my family of origin I am the tallest and my brother is the shortest, so anything is possible I guess.
This act of comparison has leaked over onto the parents too. This morning at breakfast, my youngest made me stand back to back with him to see who was the tallest.
I won.
This act of comparison comes out exactly as you’d expect, with one child despondent because they “lost” the comparison while the other is resplendent in their victory until they find something else to compete about so someone else has a chance to win.
Isn’t that what our adult lives are like? I’d like to say we’ve grown out of height contests, but we really haven’t. We sometimes still do stand next to one another and look at our heights or weight or strength. Other times, those comparisons are metaphorical contests of height using our bank accounts, house size, and vacation destinations. We spend so much of our time trying to win.
In 1 Peter, the author warns us about this approach to life. Instead, he reminds us, our first job is to speak the words of God to one another. This sounds like a daunting task which requires us to spend 3 years in seminary and wander up a mountain path to speak with a reclusive sage, but speaking the words of God is so much simpler than that benchmark because those words come from a much easier place in our hearts - that of love and kindness to one another.
Maybe, if we have to feel like we’ve won a contest, we should win the one where the winner is the one who loved best.
Respond:
What kind of words do you use on a daily basis? Do you lead with love or do you use your words and mind to try to win?
Pray:
Moving God,
Sometimes in life we feel out of control and want to make a change. We buy new gadgets, try new systems, and rearrange our schedules in an effort to force the change into our hearts. Help just us to do the hard, inner work of change which comes from within first. Give us the blessing of the inward inspection where we seek, with honesty, the reorienting of our next steps. Amen.
