A right understanding of “love” is essential to the committed Christian. What is love? God is love, yet God destroyed the world in a flood. Jesus called people a “brood of vipers” and threw the money-changers out of the temple. Was this love? Of course -- it is all love, but men have a distorted view of “love”. Paul says, “Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” (1 Corinthians 13:4-7) Love -- not rejoicing in iniquity, but rejoicing in truth -- demands we share truth with the lost. If we do not then love seeks only its own. When truth is shared people often disagree violently, yet, truth must still be patiently given. The hearers will rarely think the truth is kind, yet it is. We share the truth for them -- not us -- we do not want what they have. The truth is centered in others -- not puffed-up and parading on its own behalf. Truth comes naturally without provocation and is not rude even when people think it is rude. Truth thinks only good for others -- not evil. So, we bear the brunt of people’s anger because we believe in all things truth -- and hope for all things truth -- and endure all things for truth. God is love. God is truth. Regardless of how we imagine “love” wrapped in human frailty.
Posted on: Tue, 08 Apr 2014 13:50:17 +0000