Love Never Fails, But We Sure Do

 

In Part One of this series on love we looked at love in general, and then more specifically who we’re supposed to love. In this second part I wanted to take the time to look at how we’re supposed to love. The best way to do this is to go to the place in the Bible that is read most when you’re talking about love. It’s the part of the Bible that’s read at almost every wedding. It’s 1 Corinthians 13. We’ll be looking specifically at 1 Cor 13:4-7.

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.

While we often hear these verses at weddings, it should be noted that the word translated as ‘love’ here is agape and not eros. This is the kind of love that we’re supposed to be showing to everyone around us, not just our husband or wife. The next verse, right after we read that love endures all things, starts out by telling us that…

Love. Never. Fails.

… So we need to realize that if we don’t see the words of 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 applying to us and our treatment of those around us, it’s not love that’s failing, it’s us.

Using this passage as a measuring rod against how the Evangelical Church is doing right now is heart breaking. My heart is breaking for the people of the LORD. My heart is breaking because we’re not being who we’re supposed to be. My heart is breaking because we’re shocked that the world isn’t being drawn to our light, without realizing that we’ve turned the dimmer down so low that they can’t even see it. Hide it under bushel? Yep. My heart is breaking because I love my King and He misses His children.

Love suffers long and is kind I see a people who are offended at the mere thought of suffering, and they need to get their reward immediately. They are not long-suffering. I see a people who are barbarous in their malignity. They are not kind.

Love does not envy I see a people who look at those around them and can’t stand if they don’t have everything their neighbors have. They are full of envy.

Love does not parade itself I see a people who need to be the first in line and beat their chest to let you know that they are supposed to be at the head of the table. They parade around, showing off their superiority.

Is not puffed up I see a people who are not able to be in second place; they have turned their election into a thing to lord over those around them, and they are at risk of losing it. They are the definition of puffed up.

Does not behave rudely I see a people who can’t help but seek to cut you down and call you names if you disagree with them. They are the rudest of the rude.

Does not seek its own I see a people who are so offended at the thought of ‘suffering’ that they run away from all of the people who disagree with them and sit in the stew of their own hatred all by themselves, with only those who agree with them around them. They seek their own and won’t suffer anyone else.

Is not provoked I see a people who are aroused to anger at even the thought that someone disagrees with them. They are the most easily provoked people I see.

Thinks no evil I see a people who focus on the malice all around them, and plan their actions based on the evil they see. They think about evil before they think about good, and their actions are solely based on all of the evil they see.

Does not rejoice in iniquity I see a people who make light of the sinful ways of their leaders, while being sure to tell you how full of sin their opponents are. They rejoice in the iniquity of others, while making excuses for the iniquity of their own.

Rejoices in the truth I see a people who love to twist facts in order to make their points. It doesn’t matter so much to them that their ‘facts’ are right, so long as there’s a scent of truth to them, and it helps them win an argument. They do not rejoice in the truth, unless it’s a truth that helps them.

Bears all things I see a people who positively can’t endure anything in their life which they don’t agree with, and they’ll let you know all about it, all the time. They are unable to bear anything uncomfortable.

Believes all things I see a people who look for conspiracies at every turn and won’t be bothered with hearing how there could be a different way of looking at it. They would rather seek out reasons to not believe before even testing with Scripture.

Hopes all things I see a people who doesn’t have a hope that good things can come out of things they disagree with, as if God isn’t powerful enough to work all things for good. They are tragically hopeless and have no faith in God’s power.

Endures all things I see a people whose roots are so flimsy that the slightest breeze blows them over. This people cannot, and will not, endure real persecution, should they ever see it.

People of God, we need to be willing to repent of our unloving ways. We have left our first love and it’s obvious to the world around us. They want nothing to do with our King because of the way that we’re representing Him. So often, in the Christian community, I hear, “if you’re being persecuted then you must be doing something right.” Well, while it’s true that we should be willing to enter into persecution for the sake of our allegiance to the King, sometimes we’re not being persecuted so much as mocked, and we’re mocked because of our poor representation of our King, not because we’re doing something right.

My heart is breaking.

My heart is breaking because His heart is breaking.

Return to your first love. Find the Jesus who shattered the chains in your life. Yes, be zealous for righteousness, but do it like Jesus. The only people He ever showed a temper to were the supposed religious, not the sick and hurting. Right now, we are acting like the Pharisees whom he called hypocrites and vipers.

Remember the Jesus who saved you. Remember the Jesus who loved you when you were unlovable. Remember the Jesus who reached out to you and brought you into the fold when you didn’t even know you were lost. Remember that Jesus, and model yourself after Him.

Love. Never. Fails.

What Is Love?

This is going to be a two-parter. The first part is going to be a lot more like what I usually write. The second part is going to be a lot more difficult, and I’ve had to pray about whether or not I should even post it, but so far, the answer I’ve gotten is, post it. So, enjoy this first part, and, well, I ask that you read the second part, too.

There are few things more important in life than love. This doesn’t necessarily have to mean a romantic sort of love, though this definitely can be an important part of your life. The intent of this post isn’t to get into the different meanings of the different forms of love in the Greek, but it’s important to understand that there are three different kinds of love in the Greek language: Agape; Eros; and Philos. That romantic love is, as can probably be guessed, eros. Philos is the love you have for your brother. Maybe the easiest way to keep this straight is being thinking about the city of Philadelphia. Philos, as we’ve said, is one of the words used in Greek for ‘love’. Adelphos is the Greek word for brotherly. This is why Philadelphia is sometimes called the city of brotherly love. Agape is the kind of benevolent love that God has for us.

The first time love is mentioned in the bible is in chapter 22 of Genesis, when God is telling to Abraham to take his son “who he loves” to be sacrificed. There’s a different rabbit trail which could be gone down which deals with how Abraham’s willingness to give up his own son, even though he had great love for him, is pointing toward that John 3:16 moment where, because of His great love for the world He created, He was willing to give up His own Son in order that the world might be saved. In fact, I think it should be pointed out that when we think about John 3:16 we don’t often put Abraham in the mix. We think of God as an impersonal being who just did what He had to do and we forget that Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice Isaac was meant to show us a piece of the story of in the life of Jesus, as well. As much as we can imagine it was difficult and painful for Abraham, it’s worth imagining that God felt that, too. In fact, when the Septuagint – which is the Greek version of the Old Testament which was completed more than 200 years before the time of Jesus, and is the version of the Hebrew Scriptures that the Apostolic Fathers used when quoting the Old Testament in the books of the New Testament – records the account of Abraham and Isaac, it uses the word agape, and not one of the other forms of love.

Why, then, is it important to know the differences between these different loves?

By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35)

If, as disciples of our Lord, Jesus, the world around us is supposed to be able to tell that we are disciples of His by the love we show for one another, it’s probably important to know which kind of love it is that we’re supposed to be showing. You’ve probably already guessed that the word for love used in this verse isn’t eros, though that would make for a much more absurdly funny (and hedonistic) Christianity. So the question is, are we supposed to be known by our philos for one another, or our agape for one another? Are we supposed to be known for our brotherly love, or for our self-sacrificing, godly love? I could just tell you, or you could just look it up real quick, but I want to point out something else Jesus said a few minutes after He told his disciples that they will be known by their love for one another. In John 15:12-13 Jesus says,

My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends.

This probably makes it pretty obvious but the kind of love we’re supposed to be known by is our agape for one another. So, the next obvious question would have to be, who is ‘one another’? Are we just talking about other Christians, or are talking about everyone?

I want to start out by saying that even if we’re talking about just the Christians, this is not an easy task. There are Christians who are doing terrible things, some of them even (erroneously) doing terrible things in the name of the Lord. So even if this command from Jesus just means that we need to love our fellow Christians so much that those in the world around can see that we’re different because of the love that we’re showing for them, this is not going to be an easy commandment to follow. But… what if it’s the other one? What if, when Jesus says that we’re supposed to be able to be known as His disciples by the way we show love, He means to everyone?

When, in Luke 10:25-37, Jesus was approached by a man who was an expert in the Torah and asked how one inherits eternal life, He responded by asking this expert in the law what the law has to say about it. When this man answered by quoting Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18 (love the LORD your God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself) Jesus said that the man was correct. In this we can see that, to love the LORD is to love your neighbor, because all people were created as image bearers of the LORD. Here’s the part that I think is pertinent to what we’re talking about, when the expert in the law heard Jesus agree with him, he automatically tried to limit who would be considered his ‘neighbor’ so Jesus, seeing what he was doing, told the parable of the Good Samaritan, where He makes it abundantly clear that all people, even the person you hate, is your neighbor.

When we question whether we’re supposed to be known by our love to everyone, and attempt to argue that we’re only supposed to be known by our love for other believers, we’re doing the same thing the expert in the law did when he questioned who his neighbor was. And Jesus has an answer for that (Luke 10:30-37).

This is why, when I read the command of Jesus to love one another in order to be known as one of His disciples, I read it to mean that we’re supposed to love everyone, and not just other Christians. I’ll not be the one potentially putting a muzzle on the love we’re supposed to show our neighbor. I don’t want anyone to be able to question whether I’m a disciple of King Jesus. If I want to shout from the rooftops that I am a disciple of King Jesus, He says that we do that by loving those around us. Sure, post it on your Facebook wall, but that’s not the command of Jesus; the command of Jesus is to self-sacrificially love those around you, even unto death.

In the second part of this series I will look at what love really is, and how we’re failing miserably at it.

Click here to read Part Two.

The Psalms 15: Who Shall Dwell On Your Holy Hill

I had been ruminating on this psalm for quite some time (even though it's only 5 verses long) and just when I was about ready to collect my thoughts and put them out there Tyler over at The Ancient Bridge went and posted something that expressed most of what I wanted to say and made me question if my post was even going to be necessary. Quite honestly, if this was going to be on something longer than 5 verses then I probably wouldn't have. But, I figured in the name of keeping things going, I may as well get my thoughts out there for you as well. I hope that you took the opportunity to read what Tyler wrote. If you haven't then I'm going to link it RIGHT HERE so that you can check that one out, too. She's a great writer and I think you'll appreciate what she has to say.

With that said, here's what I came away with...

A Psalm of David.
1 O LORD, who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy hill?

This one starts out with a lofty goal. When speaking of the LORD’s tent, we need to remember that, before there was a temple in Jerusalem, there was a tabernacle. The NKJV translates this verse as, “LORD, who may abide in Your tabernacle? Who may dwell in Your holy hill?” The word translated as ‘tent’ is ‘ohel’ (H168 – אהל). This is the word that was used when speaking of the Tent of Meeting (Ohel Moed – אהל מועד) in Exodus 33, and not the normal word used for tent (sukkah – סכּה). This is the place that Moses would go to meet with the LORD, in person. And the ‘holy hill’? You mean the mountain of the one true God? Yeah, who, indeed!?

That’s why the upcoming verses are so impactful.

2 He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart;

There are a few people in the Bible who are said to be blameless. This is an extremely tall order. While the term doesn’t demand that you never sin, it does demand that when you do sin you notice it and you repent (turn away with no intention of turning back). All of that being said, the Hebrew word that is translated as “blameless” is the same word that is used to describe the sacrificial animal offerings who are without blemish (tâmı̂ym – תּמים). It is also the same word that’s used when describing Noah as ‘perfect’ in his generations. So, all things considered, this is still a pretty tall order. The takeaway, though, is that this lofty goal is actually attainable. No matter how hard it may seem at first glance, this is a thing that can be accomplished. You may not be able to do this overnight (though, I’m perfectly willing to admit that with God all things are possible) but it’s something to shoot for. When a person first starts exercising they’re not able to run a 4 minute mile, or deadlift 500 lbs (at least this is what I’ve heard – I’m sure those who choose to exercise would be willing to give you more detail if you care to search out one of those types of people…); you have to bring you body into submission and train it to be able to perform at those levels. Likewise, we have to do the same thing to exercise ourselves in spiritual matters. Paul speaks to this in 1 Cor 9:27 when he says, “No, I keep on disciplining my body, making it serve me so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not somehow be disqualified.” We have to push on to the goal (Phil 3:14), but that goal is not out of reach (Deut 30:12, Rom 10:6)!

3 who does not slander with his tongue and does no evil to his neighbor, nor takes up a reproach against his friend;

I’m actually working on an article right now that dives more deeply into who are neighbor is so I don’t want to dig too deeply into that right here, but the easy answer is that it’s everyone. So if the goal is to be able to enter into the tabernacle of the LORD, this should be convicting to pretty much all of us. It’s so easy, especially in today’s social media culture, to let the tongue slip and ‘slander’ someone. The dictionary definition of slander is to make a false or damaging statement about someone. Did you notice the that I highlighted the word ‘or’? That means that, even if it’s true, speaking a damaging thing about someone is slander. Man, I’ve messed that one up quite a bit, and I owe a lot of apologies. Choose your words wisely because we have a standard that we should be trying to live up to. We read in the book of James the following:

Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?  (James 4:11-12)

I know that my Judge is a just God, and that He is all-knowing and can see every side of every situation. Why would I think that I know any point of view aside from my own? Instead, shouldn’t I be supportive to my neighbors? Shouldn’t even my rebukes be dipped in honey instead of dripping with sarcasm and stuffiness? I know that I often fail at this one, but I want to get better, and I hope act more like my Messiah when given the opportunity.

4 in whose eyes a vile person is despised, but who honors those who fear the LORD; who swears to his own hurt and does not change; 5 who does not put out his money at interest and does not take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things shall never be moved.

If someone fears the LORD, even if I disagree with their specific twist on a pet doctrine, why would I give them anything but honor when I’m dealing with them or referring to them? This is so convicting. Am I wise enough to discern if a person truly fears the LORD?

I always try to make it a point in my life to never charge interest if I lend money to someone. Honestly, if I do lend money out I usually give it with the expectation that it won’t be returned. More often than not, I tell the people that it’s a gift and that I don’t want repaid. I’m not saying this so that I can sound like a better person than anyone. Truth be told, the reason I do it that way is because I’m worse. If I don’t make it known that it’s a gift then I’ll obsess over being repaid and that can lead to bitterness and offense. I know my limitations and I don’t ever want to have bitterness and offense toward one of my brothers or sisters. So I guess that moral of that story is to know yourself, and know what you’re capable of (good or bad).

I hope that this has been a blessing, and I hope that you are spurred onward to living the life that the Father wants you to live.

May our allegiance to our King make us the ambassadors that He needs us to be to this lost and hurting world!

The Psalms 6: O LORD, Deliver My Life

We started out with gusto but we’ve kind of settled into at least one post per week. In keeping with that tradition, let’s get into the sixth of the psalms.

O Yahweh, do not rebuke me in your anger, and do not discipline me in your wrath. Be gracious to me, O Yahweh, because I am feeble. Heal me, O Yahweh, for my bones are terrified. My soul is also very terrified. But you, O Yahweh, how long? Turn, O Yahweh; deliver my life. Save me for the sake of your steadfast love. For there is no remembrance of you in death. In Sheol, who will give thanks to you? I am weary with my groaning; I flood my bed every night. With my tears I drench my couch. My eye wastes away because of vexation; it grows old because of all my oppressors. Depart from me, all workers of evil, for Yahweh has heard the sound of my weeping. Yahweh has heard my plea; Yahweh has accepted my prayer. All my enemies shall be ashamed and shall be very terrified. They shall turn back; they shall suddenly be ashamed. (LEB)

Now let’s take a closer look…

To the Chief Musician. With stringed instruments. On an eight-stringed harp. A Psalm of David.
1 O Yahweh, do not rebuke me in your anger, and do not discipline me in your wrath.

I’m not perfect. Not even close. I don’t revel in my sin, but I know that it’s there, waiting to break free if/when I slip out of walking in the Spirit. I’m not proud of my sin but to deny its existence would be to accept it. And the last thing we want to do is accept sin in our lives. When we accept the gracious gift our Father has given us, through His Son’s sacrifice, the natural response should be one of love and obedience. This verse shows the mind of a man that who loves the righteousness of his Father in heaven and seeks to please Him with all of his actions. We all know that David messed up from time to time, and some of the time it was some real doozies. But his heart was bent on getting back to the righteousness of the Father.

David is calling out for mercy. Mercy that he knows that he doesn’t deserve, but his God is a loving God who doesn’t need to discipline if He knows that the lesson is already learned.

2 Be gracious to me, O Yahweh, because I am feeble. Heal me, O Yahweh, for my bones are terrified.

In modern Christianity we have this belief that God didn’t really show grace until Jesus died on the cross. David, here, is asking for God to show that grace. God has been a God of grace since the beginning. In fact, as early as Genesis 6:8 we’re told that Noah found grace with God. Many of the more recent translations have chosen to translate the word here translated as ‘grace’ as ‘favor’, but its meaning remains the same. We’re often told that God didn’t reveal His grace until Jesus, but grace is all through the Old Testament. The word which the KJV translated as ‘grace’ is the Hebrew word ‘chen’ (H2580) and that word shows up 69 times in the OT, and 14 of those times are in Genesis, the book which deals with the earliest subject matter! This topic is a lot bigger than the scope of this writing and if people want to go into this topic then maybe we’ll do something more later, but for now, the point is that God has been gracious from the beginning as part of His nature and David was calling on this part of His nature.

3 My soul is also very terrified. But you, O Yahweh, how long?
4 Turn, O Yahweh; deliver my life. Save me for the sake of your steadfast love.

We all have times that we feel like the world is closing in on us. Where it feels like there’s no hope in going on. In those times it can sometimes feel like God is taking forever to turn the tide. Sometimes the tide will turn, and sometimes we will turn, but Yahweh will eventually bring us through and deliver us. But don’t be ashamed of asking “how long?”. You’re not the first and you won’t be the last. David, here, is questioning how long. Just know that there’s a reason for the restraint. Be thankful for that restraint because sometimes there’s someone else crying out “how long?” and you’re on the other end of that one, even if you don’t see it.

5 For there is no remembrance of you in death. In Sheol, who will give thanks to you?

Many have said that hell is the absence of God, but maybe death in general is the absence of God. We were made at creation to exist with God. His presence, and don’t ask me the specifics of it all, feeds our existence. In death, before the resurrection, there is no ability to give thanks to God because there is no remembrance of Him. This topic stretches my head when I sit down and really try to think about it. What is death? What happens when we die? It’s not really as simple as I was brought up thinking. Do we go to heaven when we die? Do we go to Sheol and wait for the resurrection? What does the Bible say about it all? There’s a fun study for you!

6 I am weary with my groaning; I flood my bed every night. With my tears I drench my couch.
7 My eye wastes away because of vexation; it grows old because of all my oppressors.

Most of us have been here. Most of us have cried ourselves to sleep. Have you ever been so worn out by all that’s going on around you that you have felt like this? You’re not alone.

8 Depart from me, all workers of evil, for Yahweh has heard the sound of my weeping.
9 Yahweh has heard my plea; Yahweh has accepted my prayer.

But here’s the turn; the place that many of us (at least myself) don’t usually get to. Oftentimes when I get so depressed that I cry myself to sleep I don’t get to the place that where I find assurance that everyone who’s struggling against me better flee because my Heavenly Father has my back. I mean, He does, but it’s sometimes hard to break out of the spiraling depression. This is where David has me beat. He can call upon his depression and still take his next step into the hands of the Father.

10 All my enemies shall be ashamed and shall be very terrified. They shall turn back; they shall suddenly be ashamed.

And just like that, the depression is gone! We’ve now done a complete 180. How many of us have faith like this? How many of us are willing to not focus on the negative? It seems ridiculous, if you look at it from afar, to focus on the negative and not want to think about the positive, but how many of us don’t allow ourselves the opportunity to focus on the positive? I know that I can have trouble with this. We say that we give it all to God, but do we really? Do I really? This is something that I know that I need to work on. I talk a big game sometimes, but do I back it up? I like to think that I do most of the time but I’m not always there. It’s hard to give up control. It’s hard to – dare I say it – place your faith in someone that’s not yourself.

There it is. This is all about the actual faith we have in the LORD. We talk about “our faith” but how much faith do we actually have? How much do we let our faith grow? I’ll leave you with that thought. As you go about your day, let yourself question how your faith is really working in your life.

Shalom!