Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.
I hope you are having a blessed week. This week has been amazing for me. Last week, my car was not working - the battery was dead. Then Friday, we took it to get repaired, and it was fixed with an upgraded battery for FREE!!! God is so amazing. He has redeemed my time this week, given me opportunities to bless others, and allowed me to spend quality time with my son. I have been walking in God's favor this week - high on the mountaintop, and it has been wonderful.
I love what this scripture says about Love. Love is one of those words that can oftentimes be tossed around without thought. My parents recently returned from their trip to Indonesia, you may recall they went there to a Global Prayer Conference. They shared with us an amazing story of reconciliation between the Japanese and Koreans. I'm not sure if you know about the prejudices between these two groups, but it has been passed down from generation to generation for centuries. I was able to catch a glimpse of this, just simply by being part Japanese. I would often hear things from my grandmother about the Koreans. When I was in high school, I read an article in a magazine while visiting my aunt. It was on the Koreans and Japanese, and provided an explanation on the basis of the prejudices between the two. My mom explained the repentance between the two groups to be powerful. It made me think, how divided we are in the US and the American Church. How many times have we heard judgment instead of Love in the Church?
I then started thinking about Love. Love I think can be one of the most misunderstood words in our society today. There are so many facets of Love - I love you all, but not the same way I love my husband. I love my husband, but not the same way I love my son. I love my son, but not the same way I love my parents, and so on and so forth. What kind of Love are we to have in the Church? The Love expressed in this passage of scripture is agape love (brotherly love). However, I think that these verses best define this kind of Love - Sincerity, Hating Evil, Clinging to what is Good, Devotion, Honor, Zealous, Spiritual Fervor, Serving the Lord, Joyful, Hopeful, Patient, Faithful in Prayer, and Hospitality. Don't you think that encapsulates Love?
Love is important to God - in fact Jesus said that the greatest commandment is Love:
Mark 12:29-31
“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. ‘The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
So, why is it so hard to Love? We so easily get caught up in criticizing, judging, and not forgiving others. Unforgiveness can be a poison to us. Let us learn how to Love one another - even the unloveable. Let us first look inside ourselves, and repent of not loving those God has called us to love. Can you think of a time when you showed judgment rather than God's love? Let us cleanse ourselves of unforgiveness, of judgment, of not loving. Once we rid ourselves of this, then let us seek God to see how we can show His Love. We live in such a hurting world - a world that is in need of Christ's authentic, unconditional Love. Let us be the heart of Jesus today, and Love.
No comments:
Post a Comment