Thursday, September 1, 2011

Love is Jesus

 There seems to be a mentality creeping through the hinges of modern-day Christianity that places the impossibility of man's actions into an impossibility of God's actions.  This can be seen through miracles: because I haven't seen them, they must not exist; through prophecy and tongues or other gifts: because I may or may not have that certain gift, its a little sketchy that you do/don't; and through, what I want to talk most about, love: because I have certain things going on in my life limiting my perception of love, God must also have those limitations.  Now it doesn't quite come out that plainly (most of the time).  We went through 1 Corinthians 13 the other day at church, which btw's, is awesome.  That whole verse 4-8 section always gets me thinking and rethinking and re-rethinking life and how much we can't comprehend about God's love. 

"Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek it's own; is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things; love never fails." NKJV 

Jesus is Agape, or ἀγάπη, or a love that seeks nothing in return, a love described in every usage of that verse.  He suffers long with us and is kind, despite everything we have done.  He does not envy for what's not His (mainly cause it is all His), instead, He is jealous for us (completely different usage and definition, and quite a great song, feel free to sing the rest). He does not parade Himself, puff Himself up.  He does not behave rudely or seek His own, as He died there on the cross for all of us to do His Fathers will instead of His own.  He took it all so that you and I might be considered totally righteous in Him.  He is not provoked, or literally, made sharp toward us and thinks no evil, keeping no list or record of our wrongs as they were completely paid for on that cross.  He doesn't rejoice when we do wrong, but He rejoices when we glory Him, the author of truth.   He bears all things with me, He believes in me, He hopes in me, He endures all things with me.  He has the entire picture of history laid before Him so when we are without hope, when we doubt, He is there seeing all eternity believing in us and hoping, or confidently expecting, us.  His love never fails. 

Sometimes that mentality of man I was talking about earlier creeps in and says, since man gets angry with me, since man is not patient with me, since man makes a list of wrongs toward me, rejoicing when I screw up and not rejoicing in the truth, we seem to think God somehow does the same thing.  I have seen many instances where God has been blamed for being angry at someone, or that He can't forgive you because of the list He has against you.  Let me tell you right now, the Lord loves you in every sense of this verse.  His view of us is entirely different than the world's view of us.  Do not make that dangerous connection that doubts God's love for us because man has not loved us. 

If you currently think God is angry at you, rejoicing in when you do wrong, writing a list of errors you make, go to this verse over and over.  Go to John 3, and Romans, and 1 John 4, etc.  Take that lie and pray it to God and pray for His truth to restore you.  That lie is not of God for God is love.  Never forget that!  "What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us", that famous quote by Tozer, is so true.  Do we think of God as some angry tyrannical king who beats us when we do wrong, or do we view Him for as He truly is (which would take a lot more topics to discuss) written in the word and evidenced in creation.  I love to think about that verse sometimes and make sure my view of God is not off base, constantly getting into the word.  It's one of the only ways to contest lies and misconceptions.  Take a moment and really think about how you view God. . . make sure you know He is not angry at you.  Plaster truths like 2 Corinthians 5 which state that Jesus' death for us not only forgave us of our sins but reconciled us to him in His righteousness.  Read and re-read the gospels, constantly going back to His sacrifice for you. 

Jesus is the key.  Jesus died for you and for me so that we might have victory.  He overcame the world so that we might overcome the world and all of its lies and temptations.  Focus on Jesus, focus on His love, not on your boyfriends/girlfriends love, not on a bosses love, not on an enemies love, not even on a friends love.  Focus on Jesus' love only, for on it is the encapsulation of Agape.

God is love - 1 John 4:16



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