There are many different opinions about love and how much or little one needs in their life to be truly Christ like. There are those who withhold it to a certain extent and those who love no matter what people have done/are doing. Whereas I agree that JUST loving someone isn't always the best thing that person needs, I do think love is the answer to a lot of problems; moral and elsewhere.
The verse that says "God is love" is often interpreted "God is love, therefore everyone just needs to love each other no matter the situation". This, of course, being what a lot of people call "hippie" mentality, of "peace on the earth, everyone is alright and we should all just learn to get a long." There's almost always truth in people's opinions (key word here: almost,) even if you have to dig to find it.
That first sin in the garden of Eden was mankind choosing selfishness over true love (trust) for the very One that gave man his life. Cain and Abel: one brother choosing pride over love (humbleness). Looking through scripture you see countless times where someone had the choice to love but went their own selfish way. This, of course, is not a huge surprise seeing as how humans have no good in themselves. There is a quote by C.S. Lewis that says " Good people know about both good and evil: bad people do not know about either." We are not good, only through Christ can "good" be found in us (hence, "good people".) We know nothing of love. We live our lives for the very purpose of getting or doing what we want.
This is where we got into trouble. That first decision changed our lives forever, because sin was passed down from generation to generation, only becoming more and more fierce within us as time went on. We have nothing we can offer God. He doesn't "need" any of us, but "If He who in Himself can lack nothing, chooses to need us, it is because we need to be needed." (C.S.Lewis) Our lives are meaningless without something to live and die for. Everyone searches for that something, but few find it. Why? Because they try to find it within themselves. God cannot be found inside of you if you have not already allowed Him to enter in.
I find it sad that so many people (myself included) "preach" (speak of) love and how we should live a life filled with the love of Jesus Christ, yet we seldom show this great love we speak of. Again; why? The answer is simple, though most of us will turn our nose up and start the "hollier than thou" speech. We hear someone say something we disagree with, do something other than the way we would have done it, quote a sentence wrong, misquote a fact, etc. The list could go on for pages on end, but it all comes down to one thing; pride. We have to prove how much we know. Sometimes it's just the fact that we HAVE TO have the last word. (Remember, as Jesus was wrongly accused, He did not open His mouth.)
We cannot give the love to others we strive for because of our pride, and let me tell you, the harder we try on our own to overcome the pride, the more prideful we will become. See, God doesn't "need" us, but we sure as anything need Him! Without Him we would know nothing of love, forgiveness, humbleness, kindness, truth and justice. Jesus is our ultimate example, but how are we to "be Christ like" when we never spend time with Him; when we never read in His word to know how we can accomplish the life one should be living. How do we honestly expect to do that? Just wing it? My friends, there are many things in life that you can just guess at and hope to get by, but being a follower of Christ is not one of them. To truly know the heart of Jesus, we have to KNOW Jesus. We cannot know Jesus if we have no Jesus, if we never sit down to learn about Him.
We think once we've heard about His great acts of love and forgiveness, once we've learned all of the major "popular" stories, we're good; we no longer need to spend time in His word. Doctors, dentists and veterinarians (off the top of my head examples) have to continue studying and taking tests once they are licensed to make sure they keep up with all of the new discoveries and rules. If they just learned what they needed and never kept their information up to date, they could very well be making people worse than better. Just like those people, we have to continue our "education" (for lack of a better word) on Christ. We can't ever comprehend everything about Him; so why would we stop learning? There will always be new discoveries, new creatures, plants, information, etc to learn. We don't know the half of what God has done and is still doing to this day! But if we have no interest in learning more about Him, then our desire to have Him is worthless. Now don't misunderstand me, I'm not saying you have to go to seminary or get your doctorate degree in creation or such, but everyone, the youngest to the oldest Christians, should never stop yearning to know more about the one they claim to love.
Love is a big thing, it is what brings people together, and that lack of it will tear people apart. There is a time for merciful love, and a time for tough love, but no matter what we do, say, think or act upon, it should always be in love.
The verse that says "God is love" is often interpreted "God is love, therefore everyone just needs to love each other no matter the situation". This, of course, being what a lot of people call "hippie" mentality, of "peace on the earth, everyone is alright and we should all just learn to get a long." There's almost always truth in people's opinions (key word here: almost,) even if you have to dig to find it.
That first sin in the garden of Eden was mankind choosing selfishness over true love (trust) for the very One that gave man his life. Cain and Abel: one brother choosing pride over love (humbleness). Looking through scripture you see countless times where someone had the choice to love but went their own selfish way. This, of course, is not a huge surprise seeing as how humans have no good in themselves. There is a quote by C.S. Lewis that says " Good people know about both good and evil: bad people do not know about either." We are not good, only through Christ can "good" be found in us (hence, "good people".) We know nothing of love. We live our lives for the very purpose of getting or doing what we want.
This is where we got into trouble. That first decision changed our lives forever, because sin was passed down from generation to generation, only becoming more and more fierce within us as time went on. We have nothing we can offer God. He doesn't "need" any of us, but "If He who in Himself can lack nothing, chooses to need us, it is because we need to be needed." (C.S.Lewis) Our lives are meaningless without something to live and die for. Everyone searches for that something, but few find it. Why? Because they try to find it within themselves. God cannot be found inside of you if you have not already allowed Him to enter in.
I find it sad that so many people (myself included) "preach" (speak of) love and how we should live a life filled with the love of Jesus Christ, yet we seldom show this great love we speak of. Again; why? The answer is simple, though most of us will turn our nose up and start the "hollier than thou" speech. We hear someone say something we disagree with, do something other than the way we would have done it, quote a sentence wrong, misquote a fact, etc. The list could go on for pages on end, but it all comes down to one thing; pride. We have to prove how much we know. Sometimes it's just the fact that we HAVE TO have the last word. (Remember, as Jesus was wrongly accused, He did not open His mouth.)
We cannot give the love to others we strive for because of our pride, and let me tell you, the harder we try on our own to overcome the pride, the more prideful we will become. See, God doesn't "need" us, but we sure as anything need Him! Without Him we would know nothing of love, forgiveness, humbleness, kindness, truth and justice. Jesus is our ultimate example, but how are we to "be Christ like" when we never spend time with Him; when we never read in His word to know how we can accomplish the life one should be living. How do we honestly expect to do that? Just wing it? My friends, there are many things in life that you can just guess at and hope to get by, but being a follower of Christ is not one of them. To truly know the heart of Jesus, we have to KNOW Jesus. We cannot know Jesus if we have no Jesus, if we never sit down to learn about Him.
We think once we've heard about His great acts of love and forgiveness, once we've learned all of the major "popular" stories, we're good; we no longer need to spend time in His word. Doctors, dentists and veterinarians (off the top of my head examples) have to continue studying and taking tests once they are licensed to make sure they keep up with all of the new discoveries and rules. If they just learned what they needed and never kept their information up to date, they could very well be making people worse than better. Just like those people, we have to continue our "education" (for lack of a better word) on Christ. We can't ever comprehend everything about Him; so why would we stop learning? There will always be new discoveries, new creatures, plants, information, etc to learn. We don't know the half of what God has done and is still doing to this day! But if we have no interest in learning more about Him, then our desire to have Him is worthless. Now don't misunderstand me, I'm not saying you have to go to seminary or get your doctorate degree in creation or such, but everyone, the youngest to the oldest Christians, should never stop yearning to know more about the one they claim to love.
Love is a big thing, it is what brings people together, and that lack of it will tear people apart. There is a time for merciful love, and a time for tough love, but no matter what we do, say, think or act upon, it should always be in love.
No comments:
Post a Comment