Sympathy For The Bereaved

2 Corinthians 4:16-5:10

2 Corinthians 4

16 For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.
17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;
18 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

2 Corinthians 5

For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
2 For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven:
3 If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked.
4 For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.
5 Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.
6 Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord:
7 (For we walk by faith, not by sight:)
8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.
9 Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him.
10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.

Contrasting Standards

Romans 12:9-19

  The Church:                                     The World:
Genuine love                               Hypocritical love
Abhors evil                                  Embraces evil
Clings to good                            Shuns good
Cares for others                        Despises others
Sound in business                     Lazy in business
Excited in righteousness          Excited in selfishness
Hopeful                                        Hopeless
Patient in hard times                 Frantic in hard times
Prayerful                                      Wishful
Gives generously                       Gives sparingly
Hospitable                                   Unfriendly
Bless enemies                            Curse enemies
Empathetic and sympathetic    Cold and heartless
Of the same mind                      Divisive
Humble                                        Arrogant
Godly wisdom                            Worldly wisdom
Recompense good for evil  Recompense evil for evil
Honest                                         Insincere
Peaceful                                     Unruly
Forgiving                                     Vengeful

In life, we honor our employees so they will perform better, our bosses so they’ll pay us consistently, and those with the power of influence, so they’ll work for us and not against us, but we must also honor people, because they have been created in the image of the same God we live to please. Living to please others isn’t always an easy thing to do, but loving for real involves effort and concentration. God not only takes note of how we treat our brothers and sisters, but more so how we treat those who have yet to surrender their hearts to Him.