God's Love

How do you show God’s love? And moreover what is God’s love? These two questions are thought provoking and could be the subject of exhaustive lifetime research. I am not going to attempt to dive into the depths of this subject, nor am I capable of doing so. However, these two questions are at the core of my day yesterday. Before, I get into yesterday’s events let me elaborate on some background information that will be review if you have read one of my posts before, but it bears mentioning for clarification purposes. In John chapter 15 Jesus repeatedly explains to His disciples that if they love Him they will keep his commandments or abide in Him. This illustrates that if anyone does not obey the word of God then he does not love God and therefore has no capacity to love others as Christ loves. (I am making a very brief statement of what John 15 means as to not get off topic, feel free to read it on your own for a  more in depth analysis.) I have realized this truth profoundly over the last 6 years of my Christian walk. I have come to understand that truth based upon the depravity of my human condition before grace saved me. I have learned it doctrinally and taken that to heart by the conviction of the Holy Spirit for my sin. It is clear to me now that love is not some emotional response to tragedy or sending money to someone in need. Although these things are a part of love, but are not exclusive to love as obedience is. You can be touched by something based upon circumstances and have no love for those effected by the circumstances. Moreover you can be moved emotionally but it will not sustain you to make the effort necessary to display God’s perfect love over the long haul. That perfect love must be sourced in the Holy Spirit ministering God’s truth into your life. Now that we have established that obedience to the Lord IS how you love God, until today I did not understand WHY obedience to the Lord is how you show God’s love. Keep this statement in mind and all of this will make sense at the end of this post.

The beginning of this illumination started with a comment I heard on talk radio today. The tax returns of President Obama and Vice President Biden were made public. According to this source Barack Obama made about $1.7 million this year and Joe Biden made around $370,000 and the only reported donations between the two was $5100 by Joe Biden. I’m not saying that our President did not give any money away, but it was not reported as to how much. (For the record I am sure that he gave something I just don’t know how much.) I couldn’t help but think about how these people talk about helping the people and have not done very much financially with all they have at their disposal. Due to my previous paragraph, you can see that I think that giving some money out of your abundance might be the easiest way to help people. Far easier then taking an actual interest in others lives and providing daily needs that are at the very least an inconvenience to you and at the most downright difficult on you. So I guess the Lord was preparing my heart for what was to come in my day, by being disgruntled as to the lack of compassion by those that claim to be kings of compassion! I did not know what the rest of my day would entail, but I know now that the Lord was preparing my heart for service by stirring my soul a little bit. Later on yesterday I drove by a family of three walking down the road outside where I live. This road has no sidewalks and it is obvious that they were not walking for exercise. I had seen these people before while I myself was walking on that same road (and no it was not for exercise.) So now that I have a van to drive I decided to ask if they needed a ride and they gladly said yes. They said they were only going down the street so that she could apply for a job. I did not know where they were living and I must admit they had a little bit of a smell to them and based upon a couple of other observations it is a safe bet that there is quite a story about this family and it is probably not all that pretty. When we reached our destination I asked if they went to church and they said it had been awhile, when I asked if they were Christians they said yes. I don’t know them well enough to gauge whether that is true or not, but for now I will take them at their word in regards to their Christianity. I gave them my phone number and email address and offered a ride from time to time and asked if they would like to go to church with my family. They seemed excited about the idea maybe a little too excited because they wanted to know how far I would take them if they called me. So this could be something that is more involved then just a ride to the store and a trip to church, but we will have to see.

Here is my point to all of this. I have done these kinds of things before. My wife and I had a homeless guy that I  actually got to know pretty well sleep at my house from time to time (his name was Jeremy). I am not pointing this out to make myself look noble, but it is important for my point. Anyway, through my own life, other people’s lives like these folks and the Holy Bible I have seen the condition of mankind and it is not a good one. It is also true that these problems of sin are not solved easily and sometimes they are not solved at all. You never know if what you do or say will be a part with the Holy Spirit to lead to salvation and a regenerative life. I am sure people had these questions while offering their helping hands towards me years ago as well. The more you are encountered with God’s Holy Word and the depravity of man the more wise you get. However, that wisdom also leads to spiritual eyes being opened as to what the magnitude of sin is and How Holy God is in relation to us, and to be frank that can be depressing at times. In a way, the more I see the sin and pain in other people’s lives the harder it is to keep reaching out. Honestly, because it does not always work out that well. As a matter of fact there are going to be frequent times when you as a Christian get taken advantage of for your kindness. All of this can lead one to not want to help everyone. It would seem to be logical that the more you invest in the sinful broken lives of others the more pain and affliction you decide to heap upon yourself. The truth is that pain and affliction is probably what you will see a lot of if you decide to obey the Lord and administer His love. Jesus was the ultimate example of being afflicted for those that did not and could not love Him, that being us sinful humans. The Lord is the originator of love and He is capable of loving us despite what we do, but we are not capable. Therefore, since loving as Christ loved means a significant amount of pain and affliction in our lives and that we are not capable of sustaining this over a lifetime then I guess we should not help others beyond a couple dollars or a ride home. Based on this information that would seem logical that you keep away from all of those that are at the bottom of society. After all you want to be happy and content, right?

So you’re probably wondering what my illumination is out of all of this. Remember when I said that until today I did not understand WHY obedience meant that you loved God? Well here it is. If we are incapable of love in and of ourselves and our desires are for ourselves then  we as people would never reach out to sinners. At least not beyond something that is easy and convenient. If we are selfish and not selfless by nature if it does not yield enough results day in and day out eventually we will stop doing it. Our human nature will not allow us to love without being loved back, only God’s nature allows for that. So how can you attain that nature by any other means then by abiding and obeying in the one that has the qualifications for eternal love. The answer is that you can’t! Therefore realizing that you are incapable of love actually leads to love. Emotion will fade and past frustrations will keep you from stopping to help, but obedience will allow you to love even when you know how hard it is going to be to help that person. This is not because you want to help others. Nor is it  because you are a good person by your own merit and now enjoy the turmoil of other peoples lives. You will help ONLY because you have to! The reason you HAVE TO is that you are forever a bondservant of Jesus Christ and you cannot disobey him because it would hurt too much. As a result that person gets HIS LOVE NOT YOURS and it never fails!  Now I understand the whole of why we must obey. This explanation may offend some who actually believe that there goodness is something to be admired. It may also offend those who believe they have arrived spiritually at a place where they have received the fullness of His love and no longer need anymore. Some may think that those emotional heart strings that get pulled from time to time are the ultimate indicator of God’s sustaining love in their lives. None of these things are true when placed against the truth of scripture and now I know why. You don’t get the why question answered by the Lord very often so I am greatly blessed to write this to you, until next time God bless.