Gratitude = Loyalty

Loyalty! Loyalty to Jesus. A new concept, a new perspective, a paradigm shift. Last week, we examined how love engenders loyalty. This week, we will examine how gratitude does the same. 

If someone comes to your assistance in a time of need, would that not engender loyalty to them? And the more pressing the situation, the greater the gratitude, and the greater the loyalty. Now, imagine your level of gratitude if their assistance was a rescue in a dire situation. 

The apostle Paul knew Jesus had rescued him from his former life. He became the Energizer Bunny of all the apostles. He traveled close to ten thousand miles, mostly on foot. Here is his own description of his trials: 

Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one (Flogged).  25 Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea … (2 Corin. 11:24-25,  “Flogged” added) 

What kept him going? How could he possibly maintain such tenacity, fearlessness, and commitment in the face of all that? He gives us a glimpse as to why in this same letter: 

For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.  (2 Corin. 5:14) 

But notice he refers to “us” and “for all.” Yes, he was compelled by Jesus’ love and his sacrificial death. But in this next statement he moves from “us” and “for all” to a very personal “I” and “me:” 

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Gal. 2:20) 

“who loved … me … and gave himself for … me.” 

Paul spent the rest of his life loyal to the one who had rescued him from his former Self, and from Hell; who had died for him, even knowing he would persecute him. Paul’s gratitude engenders a loyalty that empowers his incredible worldwide mission. 

Now, let’s get personal. Has Jesus rescued you? Can you say, “who loved … me … and gave himself for … me?” 

Are you filled with gratitude toward him for rescuing you from Hell, as well as from your Self? In many of my prayers, I thank Jesus for doing this for me, personally, back in June of 1995, but also for rescuing those I love from the former Self of Sam. 

Oh sure, I was a loving father, son, brother and uncle. I would help little old ladies across the street and all that. But my focus in life was strictly on the temporal, certainly not the eternal. I was on the fast track to leaving a temporal inheritance for those I loved, but not a legacy I would want. And I would have modeled my misplaced temporal focus for my daughter, and anyone else watching me. Remember,  

“An inheritance is what we leave for someone; a legacy is what we leave in someone.”  

But in June 1995, Jesus stepped in and rescued me from an inheritance of the temporal and a legacy of misplaced motivation. I will be forever grateful and, therefore, forever loyal to him. 

For Paul, all the theology of God, as well as his formal Jewish upbringing were not trumped by, but triumphed over, by Jesus’ very personal love and sacrifice for him. For him.  

Is it for you? And if so, how does this influence your day-to-day living?  

When I am tempted to do what I should not do or not do what I should, I ask myself, “What would my gratitude, and my love – and my loyalty – to Jesus mean in this situation?”  

The answer is always and immediately obvious. 

May you add loyalty to your love for Jesus, fueled by your gratitude for his very personal sacrifice and rescue of you, and may this compel you deeper into his “Get to not Got to” Kingdom.