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| "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. Love never fails." ~ 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a ~ |
Sometimes I get caught up in myself, my needs, my wants, what I think I need or want...then God places something in my life that I did not necessarily want, and I look at it and most of the time pitch a fit, but there are times that God places His hand on my shoulder and says you need to have true love for this person, no matter how they act or what they do to offend you or seemingly put you down. Love is not about having your needs met; it’s about meeting the needs of another. It’s not about being served, but serving. It’s not about keeping track; it’s about paying the price. It’s not about finally getting everything you ever wanted; it’s about forgiving another for who they cannot be. Love is not a noun---something to have. Love is a verb---something to do.
The world's definition of love is to make sure you get affection in return, it's supposedly 50/50. But the Bible never gives us any indication that Love is 50/50, at least not REAL LOVE. Jesus gave His all and He is the ultimate example. I can never be live up to what Jesus was/is, because He was/is perfect...but we can always strive to be as much like Him as possible. He will give us the strength to Love when no one else loving in return. It is easy to love someone when they are giving love back, but to love when it is not returned is the greatest thing you can do.
As a Christian I know I don't deserve anyones love, least of all that of my Saviours. Therefore I must realize that if I do not deserve His love, though He gave His all for me, the least I can do is love without expecting anything in return. Believe me, this is very hard to do, especially if you are trying to do it in your own strength. Without Christ, you can never truly love anyone. I am still working on loving those whom I don't feel love me, but I must give 100%. Believe me I doubt I've reached the 50% mark yet, so don't think I am an example of this. I am preaching to the choir here.
Will you show the love of Christ?
Genuine Love is corrective.
ReplyDeleteIt's not just about loving someone the way they are. If Jesus Christ loved us because we were sinners, then he would really have to bear us "filthy sinners" forever. But, he looks into what lies inside us, it's not just about what we do. He is concerned about do we really want to do it? What our true intentions and limitations are?, he looks deep inside our soul, where no one can see. Sometimes, we don't even know what is our True Being? Just like Saul.
If we look at Peters life, Jesus Christ knew that he will deny Him, still he was so calm. Unusual and unbelievable ain't it? But, why would he do so? Because he can foresee the same Peter baptized with Holy Ghost, ready to sacrifice his life, to serve his word and be a real witness of our Great God.
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Samuel - I must disagree, scripture tells us that there is nothing inside us that makes us "good" (see Psalm 14:3, Isaiah 64:6, Romans 3:10-12, & Romans 5:12), the deeper anyone looks the more anyone would hate us because of the darkness of our hearts.
DeleteGod already knows the deepest darkest thoughts and any secrets that we think only our heart knows. Our hearts are evil (Jeremiah 17:9). The only way we can ever become "good" is through the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, but to do that we must repent of the sins we have committed (see Romans 3:22-24).
Jesus knew what Saul & Peter would do before they did it because he is All Knowing, just as He knows what I will do two or three days from now...or what I will do in the next 30 seconds.
God saw our "filthy rags" and in the old testament demonstrated through the law and the sacrifices of lambs, doves, etc. that someday there would be an Ultimate Sacrifice (Jesus, God's Son) and that He would come and bear all that filthiness for us. The law shows us that we can never achieve perfection through ourselves (good works will never outweigh our bad).
In my post I was in meager words trying to explain the love (Agape love) that Christ showed for us, by giving His life for mine. I am nothing, He is everything and only through HIM am I made something. The ultimate show of love was through his death and ressurection. The least I can do is obey His words.
Actually I just posted one aspect of what I have realized about Love of our Christ Jesus, I just meant his Love is corrective. If we get the revelation and if we truly understand what he has done for us? Our life changes.
ReplyDeleteThe verse that you have quoted tells us that we all are sinners, there is no denying that. But, when you say "there is nothing inside us that makes us good", then only God decides what is good and what is not. But there are some things that are found in our being that makes us stand out in the eyes of Lord God. If you look at Genesis 25:29-34, God hated Esau even before he was born. hmm? God knew what he is going to do in future, so what Esau is going to "do", makes a difference don't you agree?
Don't you think there is something in Jacob that makes him different also?
Similarly if we go further back, just consider Cain and Abel. Do you know why God accepted the sacrifice of Abel and not of Cain? I would love to know your thoughts about it. I would say, there is surely something in Abel that sets him apart.
I won't post more as I do know that your post is not concerning about what am trying to say. To be honest, I have no idea how I stumbled on this blog, but it was a nice read.
God Bless.