Do the Hard Thing
Paul’s prayer and desire for Philemon is that he would come to understand the fullness of the blessing we have in salvation through Christ Jesus. In other words, know who you are in Christ! This is not an unusual, nor uncommon aspiration for Paul, for we’re shown in his letter to the Church of Ephesus a similar petition. Ephesians 1:17-19a states, “I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.”
In his letter to Philemon, Paul’s desire for him to understand every blessing we have in Christ is genuine. However, it’s not in isolation of the circumstance that Paul would ask Philemon to consider. Paul will ask Philemon to do a HARD THING! Thus, we see Paul making his appeal on the basis of LOVE.
Christ’s love in us should allow us to forgive the offence of others, just as God has forgiven us of our offense against Him. Christ’s love in us should allow us to see one another as equals, as brothers and sisters, just as Jesus sees all believers as HIS brothers and sisters.
Have you ever had to do a HARD THING? Something that challenged the validity of your words and your commitment to Christ Jesus. Something that would cause you “to put up or shut up” telling people you’re a Christian? Our Brother James puts it this way in his epistle, “Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds… As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead” – James 2:18,26. Jesus requires us to ALWAYS do the hard thing, FORGIVE. How are you doing with the hard thing?
