Title: Joy and Tolerance
143 Joy and generosity
2006-03-01
I. Text Commentary
Therefore, Paul's true joy like this does not come from the order of things that he wants, nor is it the fleshly pleasure that comes from stimulating his own heart to please himself. Indeed, this joy is the joy that comes from peace with God through Christ. True joy is true and worthwhile joy that comes from peace with God, but joy from anything else is of relatively little or no value. Also, this joy that Paul enjoyed was the joy of hope through Christ. Paul suffered not only from his own suffering in prison, but also from severe persecution toward the saints outside of prison and from the rain of accusations against him. But he could be filled with joy because he had found hope in the Mediator, Jesus Christ.
II. When you are treated unfairly
It is precisely because of the spirit of tolerance that Paul can rejoice in this way. Tolerance can be defined as the leeway to treat people with kindness and generosity. When others treat us badly or shame us, we have the right to judge ourselves to some extent. So, the law says that if someone hurts me, that person is responsible to compensate to some extent, and I have the right to receive compensation to some extent. So is the spirit of the law today. The Bible teaches that love of God and love of neighbor are inseparable as one commandment. Therefore, both must be held accountable before God and before man for causing harm to others.
However, tolerance is giving up this natural right and treating the perpetrator with generosity. Love tells you to give it up. The law teaches that the right to those who hurt and afflicted me is 'my right', but love makes me give it up. Jesus, who had lived his life surrounded by evildoers and persecutors, tolerated sinners even though he had a sovereign right from heaven to judge the wicked. Hatred makes you resent your enemy, so you take revenge, and you make your enemy harbor resentment against you again, but tolerance breaks this vicious cycle. Of course, tolerance is based on love, but it refers to a broader attitude to life than love. A good cycle of love is achieved only when you are generous with those who have harmed you or caused you pain. The reason generosity is beneficial to the spiritual life is that it acts as a gatekeeper to keep the door of hate from entering.
III. Why Tolerance Is Good for Your Spiritual Life
I have absolutely no reason to do that. When someone treats me unfairly, someone disparages my honor, or puts me into an order of life I don't want, everyone is born with a protective instinct to protect themselves. some thoughts or actions If there is no tolerance then, as soon as it enters my heart and causes pain, it immediately arouses hatred. However, tolerance acts like a body armor that blocks arrows of hate towards someone when they treat you unfairly. The arrow of hatred loses its power when faced with injustice, and generously thinking, 'There are not many people in this world who cannot understand.' Hatred is very difficult to get rid of because it is in human nature. So, it is quite difficult for a person who hates someone to progress in sanctification, but for someone who is tolerant of someone, it is relatively easy to progress in sanctification.
I beg you, in all things, towards everyone, with a generous heart, always think, ‘It may be so’ or ‘Since the world is wide and there are many things, there are all kinds of human beings, right?’. By doing so, I can avoid hatred for those who do evil to me. Conversely, remember that I, who is now suffering, used to be someone who did evil to someone. There was a time when Paul, who exhorts tolerance, was also Saul in the past, committing the worst of beasts, imprisoning and persecuting people just because they had different religions and the wrong way to worship God. To varying degrees, we were all Saul before, but now we are Paul. Only Christians can show a new way of living tolerant, rather than repay evil for evil to those who do it.
IV. joy and tolerance
But the secret to this overflowing generosity is true joy. I know for sure what is right, but sometimes I just can't. I can't make excuses with my head, but it's an unmistakable reason, but there are times when I can't do it. It doesn't take effort to forgive someone who hates someone who treats you badly, but it takes tremendous effort to go against it. The source of that power is joy. He who does not want to lose his joy in himself is unwittingly serving others. Striving to retain joy in God prepares us for a life of service to our neighbor. It is okay to hate people even if you don't have anything you normally save, but to be tolerant means you don't have to save anything.
Therefore, keep these words in your heart. The anger in the believer is like oil in an iron vessel, and the joy in the believer is like oil in a cloth vessel. Good things are hard to do, but bad things are too easy to do. The source of joy comes from peace with God through Jesus Christ. When you are filled with the joy of the hope in Jesus Christ in the midst of despair, you can be generous with those who inflict pain on you. Tolerance is like a bulletproof vest and a shield that blocks hate from others. So it's always 'maybe. We should be generous with the idea that people can do that, but for that, let us strive to always live in peace with God and hope in Jesus Christ! 2006-03-01