DUTY’S PATH
Beyond our Normal Selfish Lives
Part 2

We continue looking at the specific duties God has given to us.

1. LOVE ONE ANOTHER

1 John 4:11: “Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought (opheilo, meaning duty) to love one another.” That means beginning in the home with our husbands and family. That means those we don’t really like or who are not our type. That even means those who have spoken against us and treated us badly.

This word is used again in Romans 13:8: “Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.”

2. WALK AS JESUS WALKED

This is a tall order isn’t it?

1 John 2:6: “He that saith he abideth in him ought to walk, even as he walked.” The word “ought” means “duty.” Our life must match our confession. If we confess that Jesus is Lord and abides in us, we should be letting His joy-filled rest-filled, peace-filled, longsuffering, and righteous life live through us—in our homes and in our family lives.

3. LAY DOWN OUR LIVES FOR OUR FELLOW BELIEVERS

1 John 3:16: “Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought (it is our duty) to lay down our lives for the brethren.” The NLT says it very clearly: “We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters.” Do you think we may be a long way off the true picture of Christianity?

4. SHOW HOSPITALITY AND PROVIDE FOR TRAVELING MISSIONARIES

3 John 1:5-8: “We therefore ought (it is our duty) to receive such, that we might be fellowhelpers to the truth.” As we show hospitality and financially support those who are preaching and teaching the gospel of truth, we are co-workers with them and with the Holy Spirit. We will be their companions, joining with them to spread the truth.

Romans 15:27 (NLT): “Indeed they are indebted to the Jerusalem saints. For if the Gentiles have shared in their spiritual things, they are obligated also to minister to them in material things.” The KJV states that it is their “duty.”

God intends hospitality to the saints to be the lifestyle of the church. Today, many families are so busy rushing here and there that they don’t have time to show hospitality. They barely have time to sit around their own tables to enjoy meals together. Are we going to let the pull of this hectic world determine our lifestyle? Or are we prepared to get back to the lifestyle of the Bible? Nothing happens unless we make it happen.

Begin to regularly sit together for meals with your own family. Then begin to invite other folks and families to join you. God is a hospitable God and He dwells in you. He longs to show hospitality to His people through you.

5. HUSBANDS SHOULD LOVE THEIR WIVES AS THEIR OWN BODIES

Ephesians 5:28 (AMP): “Even so (read verses 25-27) husbands should and are morally obligated (it is their duty) to love their own wives as (being in a sense) their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself.”

This is God’s vision for marriage. His ways are wondrous. But there are two sad things we face today. Firstly, feminists are foundationally against men, especially in marriage. They’d rather eliminate them. How sad that they don’t understand God’s wondrous plan that a husband is to be as concerned about his wife as he is about his own body.

Secondly, it is sad that so many husbands have not been taught their duty and moral obligation from God. When they know it and embrace it, they not only gloriously bless their wives, but their own lives also! Their duty turns into glorious delight!

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

PRAYER:

“Dear Jesus, I realize as I read these Scriptures that I am a long way from Your ways. As You sacrificed Your life for me, so you want me to lay down my life for others. Please lead me in Your ways and teach me how to sacrifice my life with joy. Amen.”

AFFIRMATION:

To live a true Christian life, I must live opposite to the world and the flesh. God’s way is to deny myself in order to serve others.