Christian Love, What Is It
#RAD #ATEND G-d (Christ) #IIC714
Christian Love, What is it
What do you think?
These quotes – “Love is when the other
person's happiness is more important than your own[1]”,
“Love
is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend.[2]”
and “Love
is a friendship set to music.[3]” – are all excellent
suggestions. But, how do they stack up against what Biblical, Christian, definition
of true G-dly “Love” really is?
Jesus taught, very simply, according to John 13:35 in
the Contemporary English Version that -
“If you love each other, everyone will know that you
are my disciples.” The Amplified, and
Amplified classic render that passage like this:
AMP - “By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you have love and unselfish concern for one another.”
AMP - “By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you have love and unselfish concern for one another.”
AMPC - “By this shall all [men] know that you are My
disciples, if you love one another [if you keep on showing love among
yourselves]”
It is my firm belief that, finally after many, many years, more and more Disciples of Jesus (Christians / ‘believers in and Trusters of’, Jesus / Yeshua) are grasping that the text neither says, nor even remotely supports the idea, that - ‘the world will know we are Christians by our unyielding tolerance of unending evil’. The world, you see, has a very skewed idea of what “love” is. The world’s idea of love may, or may not include what Messrs H. Jackson Brown, Jr., Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Joseph Campbell say “Love Is”. This point is raised not to disparage, or otherwise diminish the views of Messrs H. Jackson Brown, Jr., Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Joseph Campbell, or the men themselves, rather this point is being made to emphasize that G-d’s ways ae, indeed, higher than our (man’s) ways. - Isaiah 55:9
It is my firm belief that, finally after many, many years, more and more Disciples of Jesus (Christians / ‘believers in and Trusters of’, Jesus / Yeshua) are grasping that the text neither says, nor even remotely supports the idea, that - ‘the world will know we are Christians by our unyielding tolerance of unending evil’. The world, you see, has a very skewed idea of what “love” is. The world’s idea of love may, or may not include what Messrs H. Jackson Brown, Jr., Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Joseph Campbell say “Love Is”. This point is raised not to disparage, or otherwise diminish the views of Messrs H. Jackson Brown, Jr., Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Joseph Campbell, or the men themselves, rather this point is being made to emphasize that G-d’s ways ae, indeed, higher than our (man’s) ways. - Isaiah 55:9
In our quest to explore just what is Christian Love,
let’s begin with some basic about who and what G-d Himself is. G-d’s Holy Word in I John 4:8 tells us that “G-d is love”, period. Continuing, the
very Word of G-d is Himself G-d - John 1:1
And according to G-d’s Holy Word, His Word, is - “..profitable for
instruction, for conviction [of sin], for correction [of error and restoration
to obedience], for training in righteousness [learning to live in conformity to
God’s will, both publicly and privately—behaving honorably with personal
integrity and moral courage]” - II Timothy 3:16, AMP. Or, as the NIV very simply says that G-d’s
Holy Word is - “…is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness”. Now sure, some may pick apart the NIV, noting
that “useful” and profitable” are not really synonymous. The word useful seems to carry with it a
lesser valued meaning, whereas “profitable” carries with it a very clear
meaning of Benefit. But, is it
entirely fair to dismiss the NIV rendering as substandard, when the contextual
substance of the who statement clearly supports the idea of Benefit? Consider some synonyms for both words:
Useful - valuable, beneficial, suitable, advantageous
Profitable - lucrative, gainful, rewarding, advantageous
Alas, I digress.
This is not about linguistic renderings of G-d’s Holy Word, what this is
about is what “G-dly, Biblical, Christian Love” truly is, according to G-d’s
Holy Word.
As my Pastor, Tim Thomas of “The Shift Downtown” {Facebook Page, Twitter and Instagram[4]},
says:
“G-d is not just an entity, or a deity, who exudes or shows
“love”, G-d, as I John 4:8 says - IS Love!”
Therefore, it is my view that true, G-dly, Biblical,
Christian “love” includes a multifaceted set of points which include, but are
not limited to, the abilities to both show, AND receive:
i) - instruction,
a)
for conviction [of sin],
b)
for correction [of error and restoration to obedience], and
c)
living in conformity to God’s will, both
publicly and privately
ii) - training in
righteousness,
a) for
behaving honorably
b) for
behaving with personal integrity, and
c) for
behaving with moral courage
iii) - comfort,
a) pats
on the back, reassurance
b) acceptance,
and
c) encouragement
iv) - HOPE, I Peter 3:15
And that my friends, that limited definition of G-dly,
Biblical, Christian “love”, offers humanity infinitely more than a few
misguided ‘wink, wink, nudge, nudges’ at sin, and the dire consequences of sin,
will ever accomplish.
“No Jesus, NO peace” and yet, “Know Jesus, KNOW peace”
How does one get to “know” Jesus? Simple, invite Him into your heart, as Jesus
says: “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and
opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.” [Revelation 3:20 NIV]
How can be assured that this Jesus stuff means anything? Well because the Bible tells us so, as the
Apostle Paul wrote:
“If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is
Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be
saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it
is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.” [Romans 10:9-10 NIV]
And for those of you who say to me, I
can’t be bothered reading the Bible, “it’s confusing” or “it’s a waste of my
time”, may I draw your attention to what the Bible says about wisdom: “The fear
of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is
understanding.” [Proverbs 9:10 NIV]
If nothing else, PLEASE read two chapters
from the Bible – (don’t own one, sorry NO excuse, if you’re reading this, you
can access this: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%203:16&version=NIV) John 3 and John
14!
John 3:16 says: “For God so loved the
world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not
perish but have eternal life.”
And John 14:6 says: “Jesus answered, “I am
the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through
me.”
Well that’s it, that’s Da Bauz’s Take on, “Christian
Love, What is it” – this 16th day of March 2018 © 2018, All Rights
Reserved. wr (Da Bauz, Christian Zionist “creationist” too!)
Just sayin’...
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem...
What is #RAD? #RAD is:
R epent of rejecting Christ
A ccept Christ as your Lord
D evelop your relationship with G-d
#RAD your relationship with the Living Almighty God
Himself as your personal Lord and Saviour depends on it!
What is #ATEND G-d (Christ)? Ask me!
What is #IIC714?
II 2nd
C hronicles
7:14
John 3:16, Revelation 3:20, Romans 10:9 -10, Revelation
21:27, II Corinthians 5:21 and I John 5:13 / John 20:31!
Shalom
Cited
or consulted sources and resources
[1] - “H. Jackson
Brown, Jr.” - https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/h_jackson_brown_jr_384402?src=t_love_is
[2] - “Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr.” - https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/martin_luther_king_jr_110082?src=t_love_is
-
[3] - “Joseph Campbell”
- https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/joseph_campbell_380240?src=t_love_is
[4] - “The Shift
Downtown” - One of Two Campuses operated by The Shift Ministries, “Discover The
Shift” - http://discovertheshift.com. You can find their:
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