George Jarvis

Airedale Church writes

The most important thing in my life, and has been for 50 years, is my faith in Jesus Christ and his death and resurrection.

I came into a realisation of the significance of this when I was a young man and it has totally shaped my life, the way I relate to all people and my priorities. Inevitably it is a major aspect of my life about which I am very enthusiastic and there are many times when my enthusiasm has spilled over into talking to others about Jesus and my faith in him. For which, incidentally, I make no apologies! There have been a few occasions when, on setting out to engage in such enthusiastic conversation, I have been told “Oh, I believe faith is a private matter”. I have often pondered this. Faith, a private matter? Can this be so? Should it be so?

When Jesus died upon the cross, it was most definitely not a private matter. He was raised upon a cross on a hill and cruelly mistreated for all to see. His judge had stated that he could find nothing in Jesus that deserved the sentence of death — but he was still executed for all to see. This was no private matter.

At the heart of the Christian message is Jesus’s command to “Love your neighbour as yourself”. And this is also expressed in the Bible by the statement “The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love”.

Now faith which has love at its heart cannot be a private matter. Love has to find someone to love. Love wants to be exported to others. When Jesus died on the cross it was the greatest act of love that the world has ever known and he died so that my life could be shaped on the inside so that I can be equipped to love as he loves. Because of my faith in Jesus and the ability to love beyond my natural ability to love, I am a better husband to my wife. I am a better father to my children and grandfather to my grandchildren.