Thursday, August 16, 2012

"Love Perfected"

  It was John who wrote for our benefit: "By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world." (I John 4:17) That's the goal of God to get His love perfected in us so we will be as He is in this world. That's hard for us to grasp.
  The true love of God calls us up! That upward call means we want those in the church, in our families, in the work place to be better and we want to help them be better. A love that does not draw us upward to help those be better, do better is missing the very heart of God. I've known parents who protect their children when their children are completely out of line with the Lord rather than love them by correcting them. They seem to excuse wrong behavior. I've known marriages where one mate is tied to Jesus and the other is not and the one tied just doesn't care if their mate makes it or not! "I've given up! They won't ever change!" What if God took that attitude toward us?
  The bottom line is, if we are to be confident in the day of judgment, we will be as He is while in this world. That means we will be concerned about character, of our own and those around us. To say you love someone, you will want them to grow and will try to help where you can. You will encourage and exhort them (and yourself) upward to the Lord. That is more than just warm fuzzies of embraces and smiles!! True love calls us to be a giver, a contributor to the best for others. Sometimes that true love calls for us to distance ourselves from evil practices to send a message when we have tried to help (I Cor. 5). Sometimes people call God's love "unconditional" but we taint that concept with our lazy approach. God loves unconditionally but He doesn't use that in some sugary way like we do. We are to be like Him in this world! That means we should be calling for moral development and looking out for the betterment of others. Too many love when love is useful to themselves. That's not "as He is."
  Encourage one another upward to the Lord! Let them know when they do well. Wisely speak of their failures only to point them to the Lord. Let another know their lives, their character and their growth matters. Let's not go over-board with things but let's praise the things that need praised and let's move away from selfishness and self seeking, thanking those who point it out to us! God is trying to perfect His love in us to bring us confidence in the day of judgment.

1 comment:

Lesa G. said...

~So glad you and your blogs are back!! :)