You can have all wisdom, understanding, gifts of the Spirit,
but if you don’t have love…you have nothing.
1
Corinthians 13:1-8
For the past week or so…the subject of the love of Christ
has been on my mind with all of the crazy things going on in our world.
I have to tell you, I will never forget the first time I
realized that my son was telling me that he loved me. From the day he was born, I spoke the words,
“I love you” to him. I had not heard or
spoken those words as a child growing up. But, a few years before my son was
born, God got a hold of my heart and those words just came forth out of
me. To hear my son attempting to say
them as some of his first words brought tears to my eyes…and still does when I
think about it. They are words that we
speak often in our family now.
Today, I’m recovering from being ill over the past couple of
days. I finally felt like getting out of
bed and needed to get out of the house, if only for a while. I got in my car and just drove around. I felt the Lord leading me out to the first
house that David and I lived in as a married couple. I really wasn’t sure why I drove out this
way, but did it anyway. In the process I
saw two situations in the roadways that needed to be prayed for so I know that
was part of the reason. The other part
of the reason was to remember a couple of things from that first house. It has to do with love…or actually…the lack
of it.
You see, twenty-four years ago, the area that we chose to
live in was mostly inhabited by retired folks.
We moved there because we wanted to live in a house and not an
apartment. It was a nice first home for
us…a young couple with limited financial means.
We were excited about having our first home. What we found out through the following year
that we lived there is that the neighbors around us didn’t really want us there.
They didn’t seem to like us much or
really at all. They weren’t friendly
to us. We weren’t retired. We didn’t
play golf. We worked all day. Anything that we did wasn’t good enough for
our neighbors. We were young and trying
to make our way in the world, like them…perhaps 30-40 years earlier.
What came to my memory as I drove past the house is that the
people around us weren’t loving or kind at all.
Instead, they actually made life harder for us. I remember feeling judged. I also remember them, heading out every
Sunday and Wednesday to church…like clockwork.
Hmmm…where was the love of Christ?
I won’t go into the things that the neighbors did to make
life challenging for us. There’s no need
for that. In spite of all of this…God
had a plan. This is when I let Him truly
get a hold of my heart…when He drew me unto Himself.
Now I say all of this for a reason. Look around you. There are plenty of folks out there who need
to know that God loves them. Do you see
them? These folks may not be in the
place(s) that you think they should
be. That doesn’t matter. It’s actually not up to you or me. They need the love of God. Don’t be the neighbor who makes it hard on
the unbeliever. It doesn’t matter if
you’ve been a Christian all your life and your family has been Christians for
as many generations as you can recall.
If you don’t have the love of Christ towards the lost, or anyone for
that matter, what good are you for the Kingdom of God Kingdom of God
Church…we have got to do a better job of loving others. Today when I was out for my drive, a young
man nearly hit me head on because he was driving too fast and somewhat out of
control. It was in the center turning
lane that I had clearly secured before he came on the scene. Once he realized what he had done, he
corrected himself, but it took a few moments for him to do so and he was forced
to sit in front of me for more than a just few moments. I had the option to shake my fist at him and
yell and let him know just how wrong he was and how he had almost caused
tremendous trouble for us all. Or I
could calm myself; assess the situation, wave kindly in forgiveness as he
corrected the error. I chose the latter
of the two, this time… Let me tell you,
it wasn’t easy as this was quite a scary moment for me. He knew he had done wrong. I could see it in his face. I then chose to pray for him. I don’t say this to pat myself on the
back. There have been other times where
I have failed similar situations miserably.
We’re living in a society that, for the most part, has not
been shown the love of God. We
have churches on every street corner here in the U.S. Babylon
we live in and much of the church in the U.S.
We live in a time where so
many could be won for the Lord if we would only do what God has created us to
do. Oh how God wants to hear the words,
“I love you” from a newly saved son or daughter. Just like the joy I had the first time I heard
my son attempt those words, that’s how God rejoices over us and most likely
much more intensely…whether a newly saved soul or one who has know Him for
years. He is overjoyed when He hears us
proclaim our love for Him, our good, good Father.
Do you know how
much God loves you? Do you understand
that He will go to any length that He needs to…to draw you unto Himself? This is how we need to be to those around us who don’t know of God’s love just
yet. We need to be vessels that carry
God’s love to the lost, hurting and broken.
We need to ask God to soften our hearts and give us compassion towards
the lost.
Let me tell you, it’s not difficult to find Christ Followers
who know it all and have it all figured out. They’re sure to let you know and kindly “put you in your place.” Is that really
the love of Jesus? Did Jesus verbally
put down and run from those who didn’t know Him? Or, did He spend time with them, showing them
love and kindness, as well as speaking the truth? He spent time with them. (That doesn’t mean He joined in on the
sinning…Jesus never sinned. 2
Corinthians 5:21) How do I know this?
Because the Bible tells me how the Pharisees criticized Jesus for
spending time with tax collectors, sinners, and such. Matthew
11:19 Actually, the people he
criticized were the Pharisees…the religiously learned of the time. They were
always trying to trip Him up or kill Him. Matthew
23:25-28 Wait a minute…do I see
a parallel here…some two thousand plus years later…? We have a whole lotta people who know a whole
lot about God. But…where is the love? I don’t say this to be mean. I say this because we, as Christ Followers,
need to repent and make some changes.
The lost need Jesus. We all
need Jesus, not just a select few.
Where is the love
of Christ in many of the Christ followers today? Church…we can look around and see what a mess
this nation is. But, do we even consider
that we’re a big part of the problem…if
not the root of it? We’ve been playing church for so long…entertaining
ourselves…that we’ve…well, many…have lost the true purpose of the church. Hearts are hardened. We think “all is well” because we attend
church every time the doors are open. We
put our tithe and offering in the offering plate and yehaw…all is well. Church is not meant to be a social club. I ask you…is the love of God flowing though
your life to the lost and hurting in your day to day, moment to moment life?
Where the Spirit of
the Lord is, there is freedom. 2
Corinthians 3:17
Do you allow the Holy Spirit access to your life
daily…moment by moment, or is He only allowed in at certain times? If you call yourself a Follower of Christ, I
urge you to ask yourself how or if
the love of Christ flows through you. If
it does…is it when you’re at church only?
Is it when you’re around others who can see what you’re doing? Or…does it happen at all? Galatians
5:18-25
We, as Followers of Christ, have got to make a change. If we don’t have the true, genuine love of
Christ flowing through us…we have nothing…nothing.
I implore you to search your heart. Seek out God and ask Him what you can change
in your life to make a difference to the lost and hurting in your
world. It’s each of us allowing the love
of Christ to flow through us to a hurting world that will make the difference
in the lost gaining salvation through Christ.
It’s His will that none should perish.
2
Peter 3:9
