"There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love." -I John 4.18
I love you.
This is what God says to me every moment of every day.
I hate you. I cannot accept your love. I only care about me. I want to do what I want to do. I will gratify my own sinful desires even though I know I will regret it afterward. I'm too busy to talk to you. I'm too bored to spend time reading your book. I deserve to be punished. I'm afraid. I despise you.
This is what I say to God a majority of the time.
I have always thought that the correct approach to dealing with my sin is to confess it as soon as possible and ask for forgiveness so that I will not be punished for my sin against God. The biggest reason I avoid sin is because I am afraid of the consequences. I fear the effect on others and the wrath of God. However much I seek to avoid it, when I am faced with my sin it is a pointed reminder that I am not perfect nor will I ever be sinless in this life. What does it mean to be forgiven your sins if you must continue to ask for forgiveness? I hold that I have been forgiven once and for all and that God loves me - this love is without fear.
I do not have to be afraid, for I am loved by God. Perfect love has nothing whatsoever to do with fear. There is nothing to fear if there is no punishment involved in the relationship between me and God. He will not punish me for anything, for I am his child and he is my Father. On the other hand, he will not relinquish his duty to discipline me when it is necessary for my sake and/or the sake of those around me. Discipline is the correction for the good of the other; punishment is to make one pay the price for a wrong done. It is only by understanding the reality of God's position of love that I may be made complete in that love.
"We love, because He first loved us. If someone says, 'I love God,' and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who doe snot love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we ahve from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also." -I John 4.19-21
I am called to love everyone with the same kind of love that God showers upon me. Do I hold up expectations for people that they are unable to fulfill and so condemn them in my mind as failures who do not deserve to be loved the same as those who are apparently walking in obedience? It is easy to point out the faults of one whom I know well and seek to change their behavior, rather than loving them for who they are, failures and all. Will I trust that the power of the Holy Spirit is more able to change people from the inside out than I am able to berate their behavior? Sometimes I think it may be better to say nothing at all, even though someone may have totally just screwed up. Can I not wait until later to talk to them about it in private so they are not condemned before others? Love calls me to come and die: to give up what I want so that I may serve others in order to give them what they need.
Love gives me hope that when I fail I can walk up to my Father, give him a hug, tell him I failed, and ask him what to do now.
1 comment:
What a gift the body is. It blows my mind that He uses His children to encourage others in His truth. The concept that 'therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus' hit me real hard the other afternoon. We have nothing to be ashamed of anymore, Dave. Nothing. I love the last line where you say, 'Love gives me hope that when I fail I can walk up to my Father, give Him a hug, tell Him I failed, and ask Him what to do now.' As I read that, I watched you going to God and doing that and it made me cry and it was beautiful. I'm so glad I know you and I'm so glad you're my brother. I love learning from you and being reminded from you that LOVE CALLS ME TO COME AND DIE. All of the time. No matter who is or isn't around, no matter what the situation. It is painful and impossible on my own. But with HIM and His strength, it will be done. Thank you so much for those reminders.
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