Next we see that love God's way is
not selfish, irritable, or unforgiving. More things that grate against our
human nature. The world however needs to see a selfless Christian, who is slow
to anger and doesn't hold grudges. Why? Because they sure wont see that in the
world. The world not only teaches selfishness but it embraces it. We live in a
selfish society that promotes greed and excess. So when the world sees these
qualities in Christians as well, they will see us for our hypocrisy instead of
our love. Remember, the world is watching us for a reason. Once we proclaim the
mantle of Christianity we are under the microscope. People are looking for a
reason to believe but they will just as quickly accept a reason to dismiss
Christ. Which one will they get from an encounter with us? I have seen too many
Christians who have the name of Jesus drip from their lips but their attitude
is straight from hell. Talking down to people. Quick tempered. We should never
forget that the things of God are still foolishness to those who are walking in
darkness. They need to see the light of Christ within us to break through that
darkness. Likewise within the church there are too many unforgiving Christians.
Fights and arguments over the minutia of Christianity. Doctrine is doctrine and
should not be compromised but most of these disagreements are over trivialities.
We need to clothe ourselves each day with a scarf of unforgiveness, a hat of
joy and gloves of unselfishness. By doing so, we start to embody the love of
God as he intended by making things about everyone else and not ourselves.
Next we see that love rejoices when
the truth wins out and does not rejoice about injustice. This screams to me
about consistency. We cannot be one person on Sundays and a different person on
Wednesday. Sometimes I am downright frightened at the Facebook entries by Christians!
We should not be found on the wrong side of the truth! The truth of the Word of
God is supposed to set us free. Free from sin and the trappings of this world.
People need to see that we stand for the uncompromised Gospel of Jesus Christ.
The church was supposed to infiltrate the world but it seems the world has
infected the church! Well, you may say what does this have to do with loving
others? You cannot claim to love the unsaved and not share the road to heaven
with them! Evangelism is a calling but witnessing is a responsibility.
Lastly, if we are to truly embody
love as God intended and as Jesus instructed us to, then we must never give up,
never lose faith, remain always hopeful and endure through whatever
circumstances life throws at us. Difficult? Absolutely. These four things are
intricately woven together by God. How so? If we can hold onto our faith that
will keep our hope alive, which in turn will ensure that, we will never give up
and thus endure through all circumstances. How beautiful the connection.
Now faith is being sure of what we hope for
and certain of what we do not see. -- Hebrews 11: 1 (NIV)
Are we sure of what we hope for
today? Has our faith been tested? Count it all joy. I know this is a difficult
message but it is made for difficult times. Love is not a hallmark moment. It
is not cupid firing an arrow into our eyes and blinding us from the truth of
Scripture. It is meant for so much more than just relational romantic love. It
is supposed to be the very embodiment of God on earth and we are supposed to be
the caretakers of it. The morality of Christianity is not salt and light to a
dying world -- the love of Christ is. We first have to be able to show our
brethren that we love them if we expect the world to see anything in us at all.
We cannot go around tearing each other down and burying our wounded. These
lessons are not lost on the world. Verbal expression of love pales in
comparison to a life lived in love. Think always of the power of the love God
has for you:
For I am convinced that neither death nor
life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any
powers,
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. -- Romans
8: 38-39 (NIV)
Inseparable love! There shouldn't be
anything stopping us from showing this great love God has lavished upon us to
each other and the world. Love is the central and binding force within the
fruit of the Spirit. Fruit does not just magically grow. It requires
cultivation. It requires planting seeds in our hearts about what God's love is
supposed to look like inside of us. It requires regular watering and pruning to
encourage the growth. It requires a conscious decision each and every day to
put on the love of God. To clothe ourselves in it. To be the love of God.
Reverend
