The world is full of hate. Our televisions flicker with images of killing, rioting, rape, murder, and abuse. It would seem that the end is coming and if Jesus doesn't return soon all will spiral into the abyss. The Scriptures say that before the end there will be wars and rumors of war, and it looks to be playing itself out right in front of our eyes. The world plays tit for tat and tempts to pull Christians into its insidious game.
In a world that wages war our answer is to wage peace, through love, but before we can wage this kind of battle we have to be grounded in the fabric of God's love. We need to be rooted, established, anchored, moored, cemented, super glued into this one characteristic. How can we have compassion and forgiveness toward people if we do not have love? How can we sway people for Christ if our concern is to win arguments?
We throw words around in the name of truth, qualify our statements with concern, and then rail against vain conceptions and step back and feel good because we have spoken out. But are we rooted in love? Do we really care for others or just the sound of our own words?
There is a balance because taking a stand for truth is important, but only if its goal is to shed light on God's love through Christ. God doesn't need us to defend his honor, but he does call us to love others. He doesn't call us to take up arms, but he does call us to lay down our lives. He doesn't call us take all we can get, but he does call us to sacrifice all that we have. He doesn't call us to love ourselves, but he does call us to treat others better then we treat ourselves.
This is incomprehensible, and that is why the Apostle Paul confidently went before the Father. He knew that to be enlightened meant to be filled with the Spirit. He knew that to love like this would take a supernatural strength. He knew that we needed power that could only come from Christ. When we come to understand and put into practice the love of Christ then we will have the fullness of God dwelling in us.
How will you love today? How will you speak words of life? How will you show compassion, mercy, forgiveness, sacrifice, and selflessness to someone? How will you be the explanation of God's unfathomable love today? I'm just saying...
Eph. 3:17-19 "so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God."
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