Love

Do you ever have those moments where you read a passage and you feel so far away from what God defines as good?

  

If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing. Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails,.. -1 Corinthians 13

There are some mighty scenes of love throughout the Bible. I Think of Moses and how he toiled with Israel his whole life, through all the stumbling and failing that occurred. I can’t imagine how burned out he must have felt at times or maybe all the time.

I think of the brave souls who stood at the foot of our tormented Saviour’s cross as it swarmed with treacherous Jews and murderous Romans. After all the horrible things that happened to Jesus, someone controlled with common sense would have been far away. But their love for Jesus was ever burning, even at that tragic scene.

But our best example of love is indeed manifested in the Godhead. How could God love us at all as we wallow in the muck and mire of our sinful state? How could He love us to the point of allowing life, ridicule, sorrow, mourning, anguish, torture, and death to happen to Jesus? How could a Creator be destroyed by the created? How could hate be the response to love? How could someone who healed the crippled, gave sight to the blind, cleansed lepers, and raised the dead, be murdered? How could He not be loved?

When Jesus was in the garden, He asked God over and over again for another way. Luke 22:44- And being in agony He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground. It seems absurd for me to try putting this scene into words when one’s imagination can picture Jesus dedication to love so much clearer.

Jesus went to THAT point of “uncomfortable” for us. And what is it He asks us to do? A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another. John 13:34-35

A very controllable concept behind love is this, I make it happen. My love depends on no one but myself. I make the decision to love or hate based on my will through God’s help. No one else ever dictates what I will do in response to Christ’s commandment. It’s never someone else's fault that I do not love. 

The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit. John 3:8 Being a follower of Christ means that we don’t ride the waves. It means we don’t do what is “natural.” And it means that we do things that, in human terms, don’t make sense. It means that we love even the unlovable, or forgive the unforgivable.

Romans 3:23 says that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. I have never lived up to expectations in love. But the cool thing is, God always does. :)

Expectations and Earnings

My reading today took me through Deuteronomy 26. The general message of the chapter is God laying out expectations for His people once they had concluded their conquest of Canaan. He constructs what exactly He wants them to do in regards to their first-fruits sacrifices, where to take the goods, who will take care of them, and to whom they would be distributed.

I found this idea of structure interesting because it seems like such a cornerstone of successful environments. Probably the class that made the biggest impression on me in my last few years of college was my public speaking class. Slightly ironic perhaps, given that I am a science major.. But the reason that this class stands out so much to me is twofold.

For one thing, my professor was painfully clear and obvious as to the expectations of the class. He set the standards in the syllabus. We had one free absence from class without losing points. We had to be on time every time, or else we would lose points. When we were scheduled to give a presentation, we had to email our outlines to him no less than 24 hours before the start of class or else we wouldn't go. Absolutely no excuses. Basically we knew exactly what was expected of us, and were asked to either agree to the rules or drop his class.

Having these rules out in the open certainly clears up the fog of college expectations and dissipates the questions about logistics. It reminds me of what my parents have said in years past regarding clear understanding in the parent-child relationship. I can only imagine how difficult it would be from a child's perspective to never know where the boundaries are. And from the parent's perspective, it probably relieves some stress when you have clear expectations, rather than always wondering what you should treat as acceptable.

Last night I was thinking about the idea of "deserving" something without clearly "earning" it. I don't think I ever inherently deserve anything good. The things I have in life are things which either others have been generous enough to give to me, or else I worked for and earned. I'm not entitled to anything without one of those two things happening.

Now this idea can transfer into a leader-follower type situation. I've had professors who demanded respect merely on the basis that they are up in the front of the room talking. At the same time, they were terrible examples of fairness and earned anything but respect. The second reason my speech class really meant so much to me was the quality of my professor. He didn't just come across as someone who deserved respect because of his title. He clearly earned respect in my eyes by his conduct, wisdom, knowledge, and example. He didn't expect anything more from his students than he expected of himself. And if I ever felt mistreated, all I had to do was look at his example.

Who can better define this idea of earning respect than our Father and Savior? Sometimes I have a hard time seeing His blessings. But it is then that I fail to realize that my very existence is His doing. And when I feel that my life is unfair, if I look at the reality of what He has done, I am comforted.

“This day the LORD your God commands you to do these statutes and ordinances. You shall therefore be careful to do them with all your heart and with all your soul. “You have today declared the LORD to be your God, and that you would walk in His ways and keep His statutes, His commandments and His ordinances, and listen to His voice. “The LORD has today declared you to be His people, a treasured possession, as He promised you, and that you should keep all His commandments; and that He will set you high above all nations which He has made, for praise, fame, and honor; and that you shall be a consecrated people to the LORD your God, as He has spoken.” -Deuteronomy 26:16-19