Loving pizza is not the same as loving God

 

Yesterday was so full and entirely God-blessed that I forgot to post morning devotions and didn't realize it until this morning. So here is what God put on my heart yesterday!

2 Samuel 8–9; Psalms 58–59; Ezekiel 16; 2 Corinthians 2

Many Christians realize how the enemies of God have distorted or raised havoc with the blessings He has given us. One of them is LOVE. His love is pure, unselfish, kind yet firm in wanting the very best for us. This means that love will correct us when we do things that will bring harm to ourselves or others.

Raising children is one example at a human level. Many parents do their best to protect and instruct their children. The children respond to that loving care in various ways. One of them is resentment to correction and shouting those hurtful words, “You don’t love me.” Perhaps that is one way that the word ‘love’ has come to mean an affection that does never does anything that causes pain.

Perhaps that corruption began early in our history. It was present during the early church. While the Bible does not describe Paul’s “painful visit” something happened that brought pain to him and to the church folks at Corinth. He wrote to them:

“For I made up my mind not to make another painful visit to you. For if I cause you pain, who is there to make me glad but the one whom I have pained? And I wrote as I did, so that when I came I might not suffer pain from those who should have made me rejoice, for I felt sure of all of you, that my joy would be the joy of you all. For I wrote to you out of much affliction and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to cause you pain but to let you know the abundant love that I have for you.” (2 Corinthians 2:1–4)

This could refer to the man that was in sin and disciplined as described in his first letter to this church. Paul describes that situation and that punishment was necessary, but also that the church needed to “turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow.”

Love for this man was expressed by discipline and by forgiveness. This is a God-thing and further described in another passage:

And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.” It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? (Hebrews 12:5–7)

It would be difficult to worship a God that let me do whatever I felt like doing to the point of getting into trouble. If He did not stop me or warn me, I would feel very much like He didn’t care about me, just as I would feel if my mother let me play in traffic without any concern that I could be injured or killed. Love must include boundaries, but that word is hardly ever associated with restrictions. It is more about pleasure, comfort, and indulgence.

My focus verse for today is "Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends."  (John 15:13) Certainly that is the ultimate expression of love and the way that I know Jesus loves me. However, I also know that He loves me because He won’t let me play in traffic. He warns me. He darkens my conscience. He speaks to my heart. He does all He can to make His concerns known and to protect and guide me. If He did not, I would not enjoy His blessings nor would I realize how important I am to Him. He loves me.

APPLY: The bottom line for me in these thoughts is that corrupting the love word means a great hesitation when it comes to telling someone we love that their choices are harmful, that they are on a collision course, that if they do not change they will regret it. In other words, love is not mush; it is laying down my life, being willing to speak truth in love to those I care about, even if it changes their opinion of me, even if they shout back at me with, “You don’t love me” when that is totally not true. This kind of selfless love is seen at Calvary where Jesus died in my place. This makes the gospel both good news and bad news. The bad news is that in dying for me, He is saying that I deserved to die. The good news? This judgment is made in love. Without it, I would never know the solution, also offered in love.