Consider well the verse you have spoken: not that we are adequate in ourselves, but our adequacy is from God. Lay hold of this truth with your whole heart, for it is the root of all your petitions. When you ask for wisdom, rapport, and favor in meetings, you ask rightly, but see that you seek first the favor of God, which is gained not by many words but by a heart that hates no one. For if you would have mercy and compassion, you must extend it freely. Love is a debt you owe to your brother, for you are members one of another, and if love departs, the whole body is torn apart. So let no root of bitterness remain, but season all your interventions with that agape love you invoke. God’s love overcomes all, yet it must be received with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.
Do not marvel that you need poise and self-assurance; our own strength is nothing. Paul, who boasted in his adequacy, confessed that he was a blasphemer and persecutor, yet mercy was not merely that punishment was withheld, but grace was exceeding abundant, making him righteous, a son, an heir. So also for you: God’s power is perfected in weakness. Go into those meetings not relying on your own professionalism, but as one who has mortified the passions. Those inward serpents, vainglory, love of man’s favor, anxiety, are teeth of a lion that devour. Kill them by the precious Blood of Christ and the hearing of the Scriptures, and you will walk with true poise, which is not arrogance but the humility of utter dependence on God.
For the grieving family, remember that unity is born of suffering love. It is not enough to ask for comfort; love them actively, for in loving you fulfill the whole Law. Let not your pity be so broken down that you pervert justice or forget that the Lord loves righteousness. Hold fast to both mercy and truth. Your presence and words can be as the widow’s mite, small in seeming but great in the economy of heaven when offered for the common advantage.
As for your children, you pray for closed doors of harm and open doors of good opportunities. This is well, but teach them also that the favor of God is not found in easy paths but in hearts that hear His commandments. The proof of love for the Son and the Father is the hearing and keeping of those words. Let them see themselves as God sees them: vessels of mercy, each entrusted with a talent. Even if they have but one, let them use it zealously for the good of others, for nothing is so pleasing to God as to live for the common benefit. Warn them against the worthless passion of vainglory, which laughs at hell and despises the kingdom to work its own will. Instead, let their connections be kind and Christian indeed, rooted in love that seeks not its own.
And when you ask to love God with heart, mind, soul, and strength, know that this love is proved by love for your brother. How can he love God whom he has not seen if he love not his brother whom he has seen? This love is not a fleeting feeling but a debt, through your spiritual kinship. Therefore let all your work in the coming days be done in that spirit: not seeking your own favor or credit, but the salvation of many, that they may be saved. Successful interventions are those that show forth Christ’s mercy, not merely human skill. Nothing is forgotten by God, who numbers the hairs of your head.
Finally, count it all joy that you may be delivered from evil, for He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. The hedge of protection is not a wall of comfort but the shield of faith that quenches every fiery dart. Stand firm, not in your own strength, but in the Lord’s. And when you ask that all glory be given to Him, that is the highest wisdom. So may you walk these days as one who owes a debt of love, giving what you have received, that you may hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” Amen.