Saturday, May 23,
2015, 4:54 a.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song, “Full Release.” Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read 1 Corinthians 13 (NASB).
A Noisy Gong
If
I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have
become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy, and
know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove
mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give all my possessions
to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have
love, it profits me nothing.
The Greek word for love, in this context, is agape, which “centers
in moral preference” and “typically refers to divine love (= what God prefers)”
- http://biblehub.com/greek/26.htm.
Agape love is self-sacrificial. It is God-like love. “Agape is love which is of
and from God, whose very nature is love itself.” “Sacrificial love is not based
on a feeling, but a determined act of the will, a joyful resolve to put the
welfare of others above our own.” “This is the love which ‘has been poured out
in our hearts through the Holy Spirit given to us’ when we became His children
(Romans 5:5)” - http://www.gotquestions.org/agape-love.html.
So, in order for us to have this kind of love, one for
another, we must first of all be in intimate relationship with the one who is
love, through faith in Jesus Christ, God the Son. We must be crucified with
Christ, by the Spirit of God, via death to sin, and be resurrected with Christ,
by the Spirit, to new lives in Christ Jesus, “created to be like God in true
righteousness and holiness” (See: Eph. 4:17-24; Gal. 2:20; Ro. 6-8). This
begins when we accept God’s invitation to his great salvation through faith in Jesus
Christ, yet it is also a daily process of dying to sin and self and of
following our Lord Jesus in obedience and in surrender to his will for our
lives (See: Lu. 9:23-25; 2 Co. 5:15; Ro. 8:3-14). To love others in this way, thus,
we must be indwelt by and surrendered to the ONE who IS LOVE.
It seems to me, if we are truly operating in the power of
the Spirit of God in the exercise of the spiritual gifts given us by the Spirit
of God, that the love of God would naturally flow through us to others. Yet,
that doesn’t seem to be the case here. Perhaps this is not speaking of times
when we are empowered by the Spirit in the exercise of these gifts, but of
times when we operate in the flesh and do not yield control to the Spirit. Yet,
what is clear is that we can have wonderful gifts of the Spirit of God and
still not exercise the love of God toward others in the execution of those
gifts, or apart from the implementation of those gifts, and thus the carrying
out of such gifts ends up just being a bunch of noise.
Yet, this all goes back to the definition of “agape” love,
for some people might think we are NOT being loving when we confront sin, call
for repentance, expose lies and false gospels, and warn of judgment and of the
dangers of a false faith, based in a lie, which gives people false hope. As
well, some of them may think they ARE being loving by diluting the gospel,
telling people what they want to hear, saying only pleasant things which tickle
itching ears, and/or by avoiding speaking the truth in love so as not to “offend”
people with the truth of the gospel. Lies are never kind, and they definitely
are not loving. In the same respect, truth can be told in ways which are unkind
and unloving, so we must submit ourselves to the control of the Spirit of God
and allow the love of God to flow through us in all that we do, and resist the
temptation to give in to the flesh.
Agape love is self-sacrificial. It gives of itself to meet
the legitimate needs of others, and will lay down its life so others can go
free, even if it means we are hated in return.
Love Is Unselfish
Love
is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not
arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked,
does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in
unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all
things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Agape love is patient (long-suffering). It doesn’t quit. It
doesn’t give up on people, even though they may be difficult or even hurtful
towards us. We persevere in loving them. Love is kind. It is thoughtful and demonstrates
a desire to help others. Yet, again, telling people lies just to make them feel
good is never kind. Speaking the truth in love is kind, because it cares more
about what the other person really needs than it cares about itself. Love is
not jealous (or envious). This word translated as “jealous” can be used in both
a positive and a negative context. So, jealously is not always bad or unloving,
in other words. We can be jealous for others with a godly jealousy, wishing to
see them forsake their idolatry (adultery) and to return to their “first love”
(See: 2 Co. 11:1-4). Envy, on the other hand, is bad, for it incorporates such
terms as “greed, bitterness, resentment, spite, and hatred” etc.
Love does not brag (boast), it is not arrogant (proud). I
think those speak for themselves. Love does not act unbecomingly. In some
translations this is translated to say that love is not rude (impolite). Yet, rudeness
can be defined by the culture in which we live and/or by tradition, and it may
or may not agree with what scripture teaches. In some cultures it is polite to
lie to people, but lying is sinful. In some cultures it is impolite to speak
the truth in love, yet that is what scripture teaches us we must do. The gospel
of our salvation is an offense to those who are perishing, and so the world (or
worldly church) may consider us as being rude (impolite) because we preach the
gospel, because it offends people. Yet, we must preach the gospel, and that is
agape love. So, we must never compromise the truth of God’s word or what he
teaches us we must do, in love, so as not to offend people. So, rudeness must
be always be defined by scripture and not by culture (not by the world). A
better translation of “does not act unbecomingly” would read that love is not
dishonorable (shameful; vile; wicked) or indecent (crude, impure, vulgar). That
makes more sense.
Love does not seek its own. In other words, love is
unselfish and it regards the legitimate needs (necessities) of others above
oneself. It willingly gives of oneself to meet others’ needs, and is
self-sacrificial, giving of time, money, resources, energy, etc. for others.
Love is not easily provoked (not easily angered). If we are hot-headed, we can’t
be acting in love. Love does not take into account a wrong suffered. This is
much like “tit for tat,” i.e. it has to do with keeping books (like a score
sheet or a ledger) for the purpose of retaliation, i.e. for evening out the
score, i.e. for getting even with others for what they do to us. Love does not
rejoice in unrighteousness (does not delight in evil). We should get no
pleasure out of the evil things people do or out of seeing evil done to others,
and this includes watching TV shows and movies where we are entertained by such
evil and even rejoice when people are killed or get their “just due.” We should
grieve over such evil, not find pleasure in it. Instead, we should rejoice with
the truth, even when the truth cuts straight to the heart.
Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all
things, endures all things. Again, what this says here must be defined by
scripture and not by culture. This is not talking about believing lies or being
tolerant of sin or trusting in a false hope or enduring false teaching. This is
agape love, so it must be defined by how God loves, by his character and
nature, and by his holiness and righteousness. It prefers what God prefers, so
it bears, believes, hopes and endures only as God does, and as he requires of
us. This does not refer to anything outside the scope of what would be approved
by God and for God and for the ultimate good of others. Our beliefs and hopes
must always be centered in God and in his Word, and we must endure trials,
hardships, troubles and unjust suffering and persecution for the sake of his
name, and for the sake of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Love Never Fails
Love
never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if
there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done
away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part; but when the perfect comes,
the partial will be done away. When I was a child, I used to speak like a
child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away
with childish things. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face;
now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully
known. But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these
is love.
In all things we must love God and love others as God loves
us and gave himself up for us. All of our gifting, schooling, knowledge, etc.
means nothing if it is not led (directed and motivated) by agape love as its
driving force. The gifts of the Spirit are not for our own glory but for the
glory of God and for the mutual benefit of one another within the body of
Christ, that we all may be edified, instructed, encouraged, strengthened, comforted,
healed and built up in the faith and reach maturity in Christ. One day, when
Jesus (perfection) returns for us, all these gifts of the Spirit will be done
away with, for they will no longer be necessary, for we will delivered from
these flesh bodies and we will be perfect in Christ. Right now we do not have
complete knowledge or understanding, but when Jesus returns, we will know fully
as we are fully known. So, we should stop behaving like children, being
selfish, prideful, envious, impure, and hot-tempered, etc., and we should
become mature in our thinking, reasoning and behaving, putting on love above
all else.
Full Release / An Original Work /
April 15, 2012
Walking
daily with my Savior
brings
me joy.
Loving
Father; precious Jesus;
He’s
my Savior and my Lord.
Gently
leads me; follow Him.
I’ve
invited Him within.
Now
abiding in His presence,
oh,
what peace.
From
my self-life
He
has brought me,
By
His mercy, full release.
Hope
and comfort,
peace
and safety Jesus brings
When
I daily bow before Him;
Obey
freely; do His will.
Follow
Him where’er He leads.
Listen
to Him; His words heed.
Now
obeying his words fully,
oh,
what love
That
He gives me
through
salvation,
By
His Spirit, from above.
Loving
Father; precious Jesus,
He’s
my friend.
With
my Savior, by His Spirit,
I
will endure to the end.
Share
the gospel, tell what’s true.
Witness
daily; His will do.
Tell
the world of how their Savior
bled
and died.
On
a cruel cross He suffered
So
that we might be alive.
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