Tag: Love Is

Verse of the Day – 02/17/19

Romans 8:35,37

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.

When I first read this Verse of the Day, I just had to smile….  This is one of my “go-to” passages when I need affirmation … when I need to be reminded that the love of God in Christ Jesus is unconditional and everlasting.  In fact, to me, all of Romans Chapter 8 is uplifting.  It is here that I am told there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.  It is here that God affirms His Son met the righteous requirement of law for me and sent His Holy Spirit to live in me.  It is here that I come to understand how a life lived in the Spirit sets me free from the bondage of sin and unites me to God … and confirms to me that I am His child.  It is here that I find trust in the hand of God over my life … that He works all things for my good because I love Him and have been called according to His purpose.  Yes, it is here that God affirms that He is for me … that He loves me with an inseparable, unfailing love because He gave me to His Son….  I’m overwhelmed!

In Verse 35, Paul asks “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?”  Well, another question might be, “Who joined us … who united us to His love?”  We have to understand that our relationship with God through His Son is totally 100% HIS work.  He is the initiator!  God loved us first! This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. (Cf. 1 John 4:10) His love was not a response to our goodness or righteousness.  His love was not merited or earned by any of us.  We were dead in our trespasses and sins! But God made us alive in Christ! He resurrected us in Christ! (Cf. Ephesians 2:1-10; Colossians 2:13-14) Why?  Because God, in Christ, was reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses against them. (Cf. 2 Corinthians 5:19) So if God has the will and power to join us to Himself; then the answer to the question of who can separate us from Him is ‘No one!”.  No one can separate us from His love!

Paul then moves on to the question: “What can separate us from the love of Christ?” “Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?”  In other words, we as Christians will have problems in this world.  But these troubles, trials, sufferings, nor afflictions of evil cannot separate us from God.  It is not possible.  Jesus affirms that promise:

John 10:27-30 (NKJV)

27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. 28 And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. 30 I and My Father are one.”

So what is the implication of these assertions communicated to us through Paul?  Well, let’s read the conclusion Paul brings to us:

Romans 8:37-39 (NIV)

37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Is this not the greatest news you could hear today?  God commends His love to us … He demonstrates His love in this:

Romans 5:6-8 (NKJV)

6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

I pray you will never question the love that God has for you.  His love is not dependent upon your performance. It is not given based upon your perfection. His love is given because of your imperfection!  God simply wants you and me to come to Him through the way He has prepared for us to come to Him: Christ Jesus His Son!  And NOTHING can ever separate you from His love! Amen!

So Now You Know….

Have a Blessed Day!

Verse of the Day – 02/11/19

1 Corinthians 13:4-5

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.

Here we have a continuation of the 1 Corinthians 13 and the “attributes” of love that Paul enumerates.  We often hear this passage quoted at weddings as we observe “how” love should conduct or manifest itself in practical ways. In the context of the marriage relationship, these points are great advice to anyone; however, I want to remind you that the context here is not romantic love.  In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul wrote about the gifts of the Holy Spirit.  He spoke about their manifestation; their purpose in edifying the church; and how the Holy Spirit determines what gifts and to whom they are distributed to the “common good”. He then stipulated that the diversity of gifts was supposed to have a unifying effect among believers in the Body of Christ.

I believe that it is within that context we need to see these “attributes” of love through the lens of spiritual gifts and roles within the Church.  Consider the theme of this passage in these terms:

Love is patient: Am I patient with other believers who have different gifts than mine?  Am I patient with those who are weaker in faith?  Do I get frustrated with others who do not have the spiritual knowledge that I have attained?  I’m sure you can think of more questions; but the point here is the context for how we demonstrate love through an attitude of patience and longsuffering with other believers.

Love is kind: How do I show kindness to other believers at church?  Do I greet them?  Do I show interest in their lives?  Do I listen to them in order to find ways to show support and encouragement? 

Love is not envious: Am I jealous of other people and their gifts of the Spirit?  Do I covet gifts that others have because I am not content with the gift(s) distributed to me?

Love is not boastful: Do I boast in the spiritual gifts that the Spirit has given me?   Do I show an attitude of superiority over other people and their gifts of the Spirit?  Do I consider my spiritual gifts more important or valuable than the gifts exercised by other believers in the Church?

Love is not proud: See questions to 4 above…. Am I condescending towards others when operating within my spiritual giftings?

Love does not dishonor others: Wow!  Think about this one…. Have we exercised our gifts in ways that disrespect other people?  Make them feel lower or inferior?  Are we sensitive to whether a person would be receptive to our exercising our gifts … or perceiving them as offensive?

Love is not self-seeking: How many of us self-evaluate our motives when operating in the Spirit … especially within the context of the Church?  Are we trying to draw attention to ourselves and our spiritual piety?

Love is not easily angered: I’m not sure about the application of this one.  It is hard for me to imagine someone exercising a spiritual gift in an angry manner.  But I suppose that could the case in question.  Do I get angry with others who do not accept my exercise of spiritual gifts? Do I get angry with those who believe the gifts of the Spirit were for the Apostolic Age and not for modern times?  I think this attribute is connected closely with patience and longsuffering….

Love keeps no record of wrongs: Forgive and forget!  The term used here is an accounting term.  Do you keep an accounting of all the times you have been offended by other believers? Are you offended when other believers exercise their gifts?  Do you feel slighted?

I believe the point Paul was trying to make here is that LOVE is the most excellent way to exercise your spiritual gifts.  In other words, when operating in your spiritual gifting(s), is love for others your overriding motivation for doing so?  When you exercise gifts of the Spirit, is your aim to edify the Church?  Spiritual gifts are not for our personal benefit or enjoyment. God is not giving us His divine power for our own privilege or private edification.  They are GIVEN to use for the common good … just as roles or positions of spiritual leadership were GIVEN by Jesus Himself to the Body of Christ for equipping us for works of service and the building of His Church for the purpose of unity of faith.  (Cf. Ephesians 4:11-13)   For any of us to exercise our gifts or roles without love for one another is “worthless” according to Paul.  It will profit you and I nothing of eternal value … and it will certainly not facilitate unity within the Body of Christ.  Do you have a gift or talent that you recognize in yourself?  Do you share it? Do you share it for the benefit of others?  Do you share it because you love other people … especially those of the household of faith?  Consider this thought:  God is love. So everything He does is done so in love.  Should not we who God created in Christ Jesus (in His image) do good works in love as well?

While these attributes or qualities define how love should operate within any relational context; I hope that we will look at them in the specific context of spiritual gifts.  Remember, your gifts and mine were determined by the Holy Spirit … distributed by the Holy Spirit … and given to us for the sole purpose of ministry to the Body of Christ and to a lost world.  There is no other practical or valuable purpose for them being exercised except for the glory of God and His Kingdom.  To think otherwise is … well … unloving as Paul would characterize it.  To me this teaching goes hand in hand with what Paul wrote in Romans 12:1 – that we should offer ourselves as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – as this is our true and proper worship.  Offering ourselves through our spiritual gifts for the benefit of the Church is a sacrificial act … and it can be a humble demonstration of our love for God and one another….

Well, I’m not sure if I have conveyed my thoughts very well.  I hope, at least, that I have stirred your thoughts on this popular chapter of Scripture and challenged you with a different context in which to evaluate the sincere demonstration of your love for others.  I pray we will all exercise our spiritual gifts for the common good; motivated by the excellence of love for the glory of God.

So Now You Know….

Have a Blessed Day!

Verse of the Day – 02/10/19

1 Corinthians 13:1-3

If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

This passage from 1 Corinthians 13 (commonly referred to as the “love” chapter) should be familiar to most of us.  If not, I encourage you to read Chapter 12 and then read Chapter 13 in order to have some additional context for what Paul develops for us in his discourse on brotherly love.  In Chapter 12, Paul focuses on the spiritual gifts and how these are to operate within the Church (Body of Christ).  He discusses and comments on the diversity of gifts appropriated by the Holy Spirit to believers, but emphasizes the unity and wholeness their exercise should create for the benefit of all believers.  Paul finishes his thoughts and instructions on these matters by encouraging believers to desire spiritual gifting for the edification of the Church … but then remarks in 1 Corinthians 12: 31 … “And yet, I will show you the most excellent way.”

The most excellent way to what?  In the context of Chapter 12, Paul moves on in Chapter 13 the most excellent way for believers to work together and use their individual giftings for the Church. These opening verses set the stage regarding the preeminence of love in our relationships.  One or more manifestations of the Spirit are given to each of us for the common good. So regardless of which manifestation has been determined and distributed to each of us according to the Holy Spirit, it has not been given for the purpose of “personal benefit.”  In other words, your spiritual gift(s) or roles (offices within the Church) are not for your personal edification or glory. If sincere love is not the highest motivating factor for exercising spiritual gifts, then Paul asserts our gifts will accomplish very little of value to the community of believers.  To be sure, we are called to operate in our gifts for the Church, but loving one another is the only reason they were given in the first place.  Without love in our hearts, the gifts of the Spirit are essentially useless in effectuating the common good: developing, discipling, equipping, encouraging, or ministering to the community of believers.

Paul will continue to provide some practical definitions for love to give us essential references on how love will manifest itself through our spiritual giftings, but I will save that for our next lesson….

So Now You Know….

Have a Blessed Day!