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Falling for Worldly Love

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And then of course most will go on to live life in their new marriage paying no mind to what these verses mean. The first verse means that communication without love is meaningless and empty. Communication is a chief cornerstone of any successful relationship but God is saying that without love it is nothing but noise. The second verse is saying that the future and faith itself are meaningless without love. The third verse speaks to charity meaning nothing without love to guide it. So God is saying that you can talk, know the future, exercise great faith and give away everything you own but without love it is all meaningless. It is safe to say that God places a great importance on love; even greater than the world which is willing to cast it aside so easily.

But then we get into the meat of it. Love as God defines it, not man. Love is patient and kind. It is not envious, boastful, proud, rude, self seeking, easily angered and keeps no record of wrongs. It shuns evil and delights in the truth of God. It always protects, trusts, hopes and perseveres. It never fails. Wow. That is some list! Who can embody all of that? Only one man ever did and His name is Jesus. God offers up His only Son to us again as the example of what love is supposed to be. You must understand that this list of qualities is by definition everything we are not by nature. We are not kind and patient. We do keep a record of wrongs; some with a longer memory than others! Our sin nature tends to evil and not the truth.

So what is God saying then? He is saying that in order to "love" the way God intended, we should be striving to be these qualities for the person we claim to love. Essentially, we should be striving to be Christ-like for them. God is saying that love is always by His definition a choice. It is an act of our will to choose to act towards the one we claim to love as Christ acted towards us. It is not an out of control reaction in our soul but a conscious act of will within our Spirit. Will we ever attain that perfection? Of course not. But where is the striving beloved? Don't ever settle for less than God intended for you by blaming some worldly view of "love" when God has provided you with His blueprint for it. We must put behind us the childish ways of the world that teach us to be victims of love. There should be no victim in love. Play true love out to its logical conclusion and here is the end result as God intended:

And further, submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. For wives, this means submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For a husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of his body, the church. As the church submits to Christ, so you wives should submit to your husbands in everything. For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her. - Ephesians 5: 21-25 (NLT)

Mutual submission to each other out of reverence for Christ. Reverence is defined as a deep respect stemming from a state of awe. It means that you both respect and are in awe of Christ so much that you submit to each other. You give in to each other. You place the other person first. THAT is how God intended love to be between two people. Not this out of control roller coaster ride the world has turned it into. This numbing sense that you have somehow conceded all control of your life and your heart. God is always a God of order, not chaos.

I am not suggesting that any of this is easy. I am not suggesting that any of this is painless, or that I have mastered what I write. God always ministers to me first. What I am suggesting is that the love the world sells is a lie. It is a lie designed to get us to abandon what we really believe and set us up for disappointment, depression, and feelings if inadequacy. It is a lie designed to make us into a victim of something God intended for beauty. Yes, feelings are very real. But we routinely deny our feelings in other areas of our lives in order to stay within the will of God. We do so because we know that His perfect will is where we need to be. The same applies when it comes to matters of the heart, even more so because decisions in this area can have an impact that can last our entire lifetime. Fall only for the Godly design of love and watch as He lifts you up into His perfect pleasing will. He has an unbelievable future all planned out for you. According to Jesus, He came to bring you life in abundance. Never settle for less than you deserve. Never settle for less than you are worth.

Reverend Anthony Wade January 3, 2012

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Credentialed Minister of the Gospel for the Assemblies of God. Owner and founder of 828 ministries. Vice President for Goodwill Industries. Always remember that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him and are called according to (more...)
 
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