Listening to God’s Word, Living by Faith and Yielding in Love

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

In recent weeks, we reflected together on two important spiritual lessons from God’s Word.

First, we learned that God speaks — and He expects us to respond in faith. From Genesis to Revelation, Scripture shows us that God acts by speaking and those who hear are called to respond in faith. Abraham, for example, left his home and followed God’s call simply because God spoke to him.

Every time we hear God’s Word, we are called not just to listen, but to trust Him in faith, to believe His promises and to let His Word shape our lives.

How then can we grow in listening to God and trusting His Word? We do so through the daily practice of spiritual disciplines. Let us set aside time each day to read the Scriptures carefully and prayerfully. Let us guard a personal quiet time with the Lord, where we not only speak but also listen. In prayer we lay our burdens before Him and in His Word we hear His promises afresh. These rhythms of Scripture reading and prayer train us to respond in faith, so that God’s Word becomes not just something we hear on Sundays, but the living guide of our daily lives.

Second, we saw in Abraham’s example The Grace of Yielding: Through Surrender to Inheritance. When Abraham gave up his rights for the sake of peace with Lot, he did not lose — he received even more from God. Abraham’s trust was not in land or possessions, but in God’s promise.

Every time we yield in love, we choose peace over strife. When we put relationships above winning an argument, we do not become poorer — we make space for God’s greater blessing. Yielding is not weakness; it is faith expressing itself in love.

The grace of yielding is deeply needed in our own lives and church family. But how can we learn this grace of yielding in daily life? We learn it by living closely with God’s people. This is why being part of a cell group is so important. In small groups, we rub shoulders with one another, we share burdens and sometimes we even face disagreements. It is in these settings that God trains us to yield, to forgive and to love. Serving in a ministry also provides the same opportunity. When we serve together, we learn to put others’ needs ahead of our own and to submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. In community and service, God shapes us to become a people of humility and grace.

These two lessons come together in this way: when we take God at His Word and live by faith, our lives are transformed. Faith in God’s promises makes us more loving and more forgiving. It teaches us to be yielding instead of insistent, gracious instead of self-centred. And this is especially true within the family of Christ. The apostle Paul reminds us: “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.” (Philippians 2:3-4)

Together, let us press on in faith and in love, practising the disciplines of Word and prayer, fellowship and service. Imagine what kind of church we could be if every member listened to God’s Word and practised the grace of yielding in our fellowship. The world would see the love of Christ more clearly in us. Our lives will then be a testimony to the living God who speaks, who promises and who blesses abundantly beyond all that we ask or imagine.

Reflection Questions

1. How am I making time each day to truly listen to God’s Word in Scripture and in prayer?
2. When conflicts or disagreements arise, am I more concerned about proving myself right, or about showing the grace of yielding for the sake of love and peace?
3. How might joining a cell group or serving in a ministry help me practise forgiveness, humility and Christlike love in community?

Yours in Christ,

Rev. Caleb Oh