The Misused Love: Part Four

After a good Thanksgiving break, let's finalize this series in the blog with the final three essentials of Godly Love. I believe these last three are the most challenging. Look and see how they square up to your life.

6. Confirming the importance in others is a great essential of Godly love. All have purpose, and to degrade others and act as if they are worthless is contrary to Christ’s teachings. Paul states in Ephesians 2:10: “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepares in advance for us to do.” Regardless of what people have done in the past and what we may think of them, God has a plan for all. Now the holiness of his plan cannot be reached without the person becoming saved, but expressing that there is a purpose and plan for everyone certainly can bring God’s love to that person which can lead them to his grace. And in his grace, all can achieve the will of God. I do not mean to confuse this point with the popular watered-down Gospel message used today in churches in which all that is preached is a “wonderful plan” with no mention of sin and Hell. God’s plan for us is to be in communion with him, not a wonderful earthly life. That is crucial to understand. If we can reveal the importance in one person, it is worth the minuscule effort that seems to so often keep us from God’s will.

7. The next essential of God’s love is what I believe to be one of the most, if not the most, disputed. The idea of witnessing to others is a haunting thought to Christians. Many of us claim to be Christians, but ask yourself, how often do you speak to someone, especially strangers about your faith, or even hear others speaking about theirs? Exclude church related activities also. I think the answers should shock us as Christians. Now before I continue, I do want to stress that I do not mean that witnessing is only going door to door or standing on street corners screaming to people about going to Hell. What I mean by witnessing is being brave enough to speak of and stand up for your faith when the time comes. At times, Christ will lead those in need into our paths. How we handle the situation is partially in our hands. Partially because while the Spirit uses us as an instrument for Christ’s message, we must ultimately decide to act upon the Spirit’s calling. But as I said before, I do not mean to forcibly spit the word into people's faces. When it is time for them to hear, the Lord will create the space in time for it to happen. But how is this a part of love? It is actually the greatest part of God’s love. This is loving someone so much that you care where he or she will be when death comes. Refer to John 3:16. It show the epitome of love. When the occasion comes to share the Word, we should all think of God’s love for us and how he wants us to share our faith without fear and shame. This is the greatest expression of love: to not keep his Word locked inside of us but to allow it to grow in others.

8. The final essential is the idea of sacrifice. Do not simply think that sacrifice means that you will “give up” something for another. That connotation sometimes sits negatively on some hearts. While we basically do give something up, the concentration should be on what good is done for those the sacrifice is for. Through Christ’s crucifixion, we do acknowledge the fact that he died, but we focus more on the fact that he was raised from the dead and has given eternal life to his followers. With this type of thinking, why do we usually associate a negative feeling to concept of sacrifice in our own lives? First, how is love sacrifice? It is not intended for everyone to go and give their material possessions to those in need. That is not what I mean by sacrifice. In the context of spreading God’s love, we should sacrifice those things that hinder us from doing so. May it be time, effort, or comfort, we should not let our personal selfishness keep us from showing the greatness of God. Therefore, with the will of God, a Christian lifestyle requires sacrifice in many ways. Anything that keeps us from expressing God’s love cannot be considered holy, and we should sacrifice that which hinders Christ’s message.

After examining the challenge of these essentials, we must examine our own lives. Should there be any transitions, any changes, or are these essentials absent from our lives altogether? Actually, all of us lack at least one essential part of Godly love at some point in our lives. We must all be aware that the absence of Godly love means an eventual absence of God in our lives. God is true love; without it, we turn from him. But with all of the negative, worldly ideals that are implanted into our culturally aware minds, how do we focus on God while keeping our sin at bay? Start by prayer. Turn to God for guidance and strength. The Lord wants us to be full of his power, so why would he deny it to us? “Ask and it will be given to you” (Matt 7:7). We should never forget this. Christ tells that all you must do is truly want God and ask; you will not be denied. He then will give you the knowledge and understanding in that situation. But before you progress with this, understand that this does not mean a literal beam of light will fall upon you, where you will see everything as a divine epiphany. This is a misunderstanding of those who do not see what Christ means when he says that we will receive if we ask. We, in some way, will receive help. Do not focus on emotion and expect an immediate change of heart or physical ecstasy. Waiting for these things leads to discouragement and possible disbelief. Just understand that God will help you. With the trust that Christ will help, look to the world with a clear mind and distinguish between reality and worldliness, meaning separate your conscience from cultural ideas and focus on the truth of God’s holiness and love.

I think the best way to bring together what is expected of us as Christians is to look to Christ’s life. How did he live? What type of impact did he have on people? The answers are clear. But what can we understand about his character and his impact? Love is the key premise to Christian living. It is the foundation of all the good of God in this world. Through love, Christ died, salvation has found us, and we live. If we turn from true love, we turn from God because he is love.