How do we love?
1 Peter 3:8 “Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble.”
Last week, 1 John told us why we should love. Not for personal gain, or out of obligation, but because that is God’s command to us, to love others as Jesus loved us.
Today’s verse deals with what that love should look like. Agreeability with each other, sympathy and understanding, compassion and humility. Key traits in the love that we Christians should exhibit to everyone around us, no exceptions.
In the context of the verse, Peter says that this love should be shown to those who oppose us and are evil, and to repay evil with blessings. 1 Peter 3:17 “For it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.”
This is the kind of love and understanding we are to show to everyone, for it falls upon us to be blessings during times of evil.
Christ-like leadership: Considering the Question of Character
In the recent Singapore General Election, the concern was about electing the “right” political leaders to govern the nation for the next five years. As Christians, what are biblical qualities of leadership that God would deem essential for those who are followers of Christ. Dr Lewis Winkler, an EAST resident faculty who teaches theological studies, shares his thoughts from the Scripture.
“Leadership is influence”(Maxwell 2007, 13). John Maxwell’s well-known dictum captures a profound but simple truth: People who influence others are leaders. For Christians, two crucial questions arise. First, what kind of influence are we talking about? Is it coercive and manipulative or persuasive and empowering? Is it accidental and piecemeal or thoughtful and intentional? In short, what kind of influence is exercised upon others, from where does it come, and how it is properly obtained and developed?
This leads us to a second and more important question for Christian leaders. What does Christ-like influence look like? The church talks a lot about leadership but too often takes its models from primarily non-Christian sources. Christians can glean wisdom from such sources, of course, but failure to give adequate attention to specifically Christian concerns regarding leadership can end up diminishing or even opposing a biblical vision of what a Christ-like leader should look like.
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