Loving Others with Perfect Love

"If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no records of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, it always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears." (1 Corinthians 13:3-10)

Just as God loves us perfectly, we are now called to love others perfectly (or with completed love.)

When we love others in the way that God loved us, there will be no fear felt by them in our presence; just as we will know no fear in God's presence being so assured of His love for us.

But when I look around me, I see many lives still entwined with fear.

Husbands and wives who say they love God and each other, but live in fear of each other in some way or another.

Wives who fear what their husbands will do or say next, indicating that the love their husbands have for them has not been completed. They expect some form of hurt (usually in the form of criticism) to come from their husbands, rather than love that "always protects". If the marriage includes a "blended family", the tension is even greater, as the wife (born to be a nurturer) has to grow in "trust" that her new husband will "love" her children as she does.

Husbands fear things from their wives as well. They fear their wives will not regard the responsibility for the finances in the same manner that husbands do who have been called to be the bread-winners. Husbands wait in fearful expectation of the next completely unexpected outburst from wives who are often angry and over-emotional; for the wife has not perfected love for her husband either.

Being guided by emotions rather than by the Spirit of God is one of the biggest issues women have; often women arrive at this place of being out of control with emotions because they have not been given a "voice" by their spouses. Anger rises up swiftly when husbands diminish the concerns of the wife, don't allow them to voice their concerns, or don't give any consideration to their concerns.

Pride is the biggest one for men; many times pride grows more fierce in husbands whose wives refuse to trust them, not realizing that wives are showing their trust in God when they submit themselves to their husbands, whether husbands are right or wrong; just as Sarah did with Abraham, no matter what position Abraham's incorrect thinking got her into. His thinking was not often incorrect, but on the couple of occasions when it was wrong, Sarah still submitted to his decisions and choices, even when it could have harmed Sarah; for her trust was so much in God that she had no fear of Abraham. And God saved her every time.

What could have happened instead between Sarah and Abraham, is she could have put her foot down and said, "Absolutely not am I going to tell them that I am your sister! Don't you know how that could affect me? Aren't you concerned about me? You are so selfish, thinking only about your own skin! You could care less about me! I am so hurt!" But scripture doesn't record any response from Sarah, except quiet submission. Many times, women feel the need to fight some battle with men, when the battle belongs to the Lord, and all they are called to do is trust God that whatever happens, and to whomever it happens to (even when it happens to the children of a blended family), that God WILL take care of it all, and that nothing will be lost that cannot be restored by God.

Then there is the love between parents and children; which has it varying seasons as the child grows into adulthood, and the parents grows into old age, sometimes gracefully and sometimes not. The need for approval from the parent can be a life-long challenge to some children; for they had parents who were not perfected in love.

And when the child is an adult with a family of his own, patient love is often required in order to assist elderly parents who can be needy at times, and downright demanding at others.

Between believers, there is to be brotherly love or loving one another as though brothers one to another in a spiritual sense. Many times this brotherly love becomes agitated by differences in opinion about what scripture says. But it is most often "pride" that is at issue in these things, when brothers believe it is more important to be considered "right" than to be considered "submissive" one to another.

We all have relationships such as these; opportunities for our love to be "perfected." We can remove ourselves from such relationships and save ourselves a lot of hard work and avoid painful growing experiences. We can continue to find fault with everyone else in their lack of perfected love while never seeing that we are lacking in it ourselves.

OR we can continue to meditate upon scriptures such as those above and in the last few postings, memorizing them and guarding them in our hearts, praying for that day to arrive soon in which God will complete in us what He has begun; and that He will keep us humble and moldable in the meantime.

We will study the scripture above in detail over the next few postings; taking a long look at each of the attributes of the love we are to have for one another.

Perfect Love Casts Out Fear

"Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and His love is perfected in us. Hereby know we that we dwell in Him, and He in us, because He hath given us of His Spirit. And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as HE is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love." (I John 4:16-18)

The word "perfect" in the scripture above is defined by Strong's as:

1. Brought to its end, finished;
   
2. Wanting nothing necessary to completeness;
   
3. Perfect
   
4. That which is perfect
   
   1. Consummate human integrity and virtue
      
   2. Of men
      
      1. Full grown, adult, of full age, mature
         

In the scripture listed above is a verse that says "we have known and believed the love that God hath to us." This is key.

The first thing that happens in an un-believer's life is the revelation of God's love in such a way that it can be tasted and felt. It is experienced on such a level that it is difficult to explain, but valid in every sense for the un-believer. This is love that catapults the un-believer out of the world of the lost and unbelieving, into the world of the saved and believing. It is only because we experienced that love on some level that we can believe it. Without the experience of it, there is only head knowledge that it exists. It is because God first loved us that we can now love Him. John says "we have known." The word "known" here is the same word used in Jewish idom to describe sexual intercourse between a man and a woman; it indicates great intimacy.

Where there is no "believing" of God's love, there is fear and doubt, otherwise known as "torment." "Does God REALLY love me? Can I REALLY be saved? Am I REALLY worthy of God's love?"

Legalism is born out of this fear; legalism does not comprehend God's mercy and grace. And it cannot extend mercy and grace towards others.

This is why God tells us that "without faith it is impossible to please [God]; for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." (Hebrews 11:6)

Faith says that God loved us. Faith does not doubt God's love. If we walk in doubt instead of faith, we will begin to fashion God out of our own wicked imaginations into a hard taskmaster and judge only rather than a loving God. And we lead others to believe the same. None who walk in such fear and doubt can enter into the kingdom of heaven.

"But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death." (Revelation 21:8)

We, however, believe. Therefore we have no fear of that scripture in Revelation pertaining to us. In place of fear and torment, we can have peace. It is all a matter of remembering God's love for us, and trusting in it always; and never giving way to the enemy who wants us to believe otherwise.

"Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you." (2 Corinthians 13:11)

So now we have:

1. Love that has first been received by us from God (and has brought us to our knees in repentance);
   
2. Dying to our flesh;
   
3. Living to God (aka obedience)
   
4. Living in peace versus fear (having "faith" or "believing").
   

Next posting, we will begin to discuss what perfect love looks like in our relationships with one another.

Choosing To Die In Order To Live

"But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it. See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil; in that I command thee this day to love the LORD thy God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it. But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them; I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it. I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: that thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey His voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto Him: for He is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them." (Deuteronomy 30:14-20)

"For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's the same shall save it." (Mark 8:35)

The two scriptures above seem at first glance to be in contradiction to one another. The one tells us to "choose life" and the other tells us to "lose our life" in order to save it. But rather than being a contradiction, it is more of an oxymoron, perhaps, i.e.: dying to live.

We are still in the season of Perfect Love and so this posting will continue to consider that most blessed of things: God's Perfect Love for us in the form of Jesus Christ, our Saviour and our LORD.

But we who are called of God, called to be "light" to the world, as Jesus came to be OUR "light", are on a mission of love, the same kind of love that Jesus demonstrated towards us, and to accomplish that love towards others, we have to consider all aspects of that love.

One aspect of that Perfect Love was willingness to die.

Jesus died that we might live:

"And that He died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them, and rose again.." (2 Corinthians 5:15)

In other words, He showed us that to love others, we would have to die in the sense that we no longer live for our own wants and desires, but we live only for Him….for what He desires. In fact, this is exactly what Jesus did. He set aside His own flesh's desire to live and breathe, in order to be obedient to the Father, who loved Him.

"As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in His love. These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." (John 15:9-13)

Thus, even though our bodies are still breathing and moving about and still, in fact, alive; we must yet consider ourselves to be dead to ourselves (otherwise known as "the flesh" in which sin, or our own sinful desires, flourish) and alive only in the sense of fulfilling the LORD's desires and purpose for our lives (being obedient to Him) rather than living to fulfill our own desires and purposes.

"Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin….Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God, through Jesus Christ, our Lord." (Romans 6:6-11))

This "dying" is to be done on a daily basis:

"And He said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily, and follow me." (Luke 9:23)

It is therefore a constant choice, a daily choice, and often a choice made several times throughout each day, to deny our own desires, to consider ourselves to be dead to our flesh, in order to be alive for God's purpose alone, in order to serve and live in obedience to the Word of God (Jesus) as Jesus Himself was obedient to the Father.

This is a tremendously important aspect of Perfect Love that we must not neglect: dying to ourselves daily in order to live for God and, in obedience to Him, love others.

Thus, Perfect Love contains:

1. Love that has first been received by us from God;
   
2. Dying to our flesh;
   
3. Living to God (aka obedience).
   

We will discuss more aspects of Perfect Love in the next posting.

Meanwhile, choose life…by choosing death and the cross.

Accomplishing Love

"Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and His love is perfected in us. Hereby know we that we dwell in Him, and He in us, because He hath given us of His Spirit. And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him."

"Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as He is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. We love Him, because He first loved us. If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also." (1 John 4:11-21)

The Greek word that is translated as "perfect" in the King James is "teleioo" which, according to Strong's Concordance, is defined as follows:

1. To make perfect, complete
   
   1. To carry through completely, to accomplish, finish, bring to an end
      
2. To complete (perfect)
   
   1. Add what is yet wanting in order to render a thing full
      
   2. To be found perfect
      
3. To bring to the end (goal) proposed
   
4. To accomplish
   
   1. Bring to a close or fulfillment by event
      
      1. Of the prophecies of the scriptures
         

The Greek word for "brother" is "adelphos" and is defined as:

1. A brother, whether born of the same two parents of only of the same father or mother
   
2. Having the same national ancestor, belonging to the same people, or countryman
   
3. Any fellow or man
   
4. A fellow believer, united to another by the bond of affection
   
5. An associate in employment or office
   
6. Brethren in Christ
   
   1. His brothers by blood
      
   2. All men
      
   3. Apostles
      
   4. Christians, as those who are exalted to the same heavenly place
      

It is easy for Christians to read 1 John and "feel good" about how much God loves them and how much they love God; and it is easy to sort of glide right over that part about loving or hating a brother without applying it to situations that exist in their own lives. But the scripture here is telling us that our love needs to be perfected or completed; it needs to accomplish that which it is meant to accomplish.

The scripture is telling us that we CANNOT hate our brother and say that we love God because our actions of hate (and unforgiveness?) are contrary to the love that God shows us and we are then revealed to be liars.
How is it that Christians manage to glide right over that without taking it into account in their own lives? We convince ourselves that we do not hate those people, we just hate their actions. We love them, we just have nothing whatsoever to do with them anymore. We avoid even mentioning their names.

It behooves each of us to squarely face that one person in our lives that is not receiving love from us and to accomplish our love towards them. It does not change what wrong they have done, whether to us or to others we care about. But what it does do is allow God to be their judge instead of us.

The problem is that we want justice NOW (better translated as vengeance). We are not willing to wait on God for justice LATER. He has not called us to judge our brother (or sister). He has called us to show His love to them by how WE love them. It is only the Lord who is perfect in His justice, it is not us, no matter what we think.

Look at God's love for a moment. Does He wait for us to come to Him before He pours His love out over us? Of course not! We hide out in the shame of our sin. We don't run to Him when we have sinned. Instead, He comes to us. He pours His love out on us, and we melt under that love and are repentant.

"WE LOVE HIM BECAUSE HE FIRST LOVED US." Says that right up above in the scripture reference in 1 John.

Perhaps our brothers and sisters would repent as well, if we would but love them as He does us. Not because they deserve to be loved, but because we recognize that we ourselves don't deserve to be loved either…yet He loves us still.

But aside from what loving them does for them, what does it do for us?

"HE THAT DWELLETH IN LOVE, DWELLETH IN GOD, AND GOD IN HIM." Says that up there too!

The reward for "completing" or "accomplishing" love towards others, especially those who are unloveable, is GOD IN US.

Do you have enough of God? I don't!

Make a choice today. Love those whom you have neglected to love this past year or for many years. Make a choice to have more of God in you, by loving them. Sometimes to love someone else, judgment falls on us because we are not going the way of the world. The world demands justice NOW. Then our choice is whether to please God or man.

It is the Season of God's Perfect Love. Let His love be seen in you, by those who are alone because of their sin. Show them what God has already shown you…Perfected Love.

It might just change their life!

The Season of God’s Perfect Love

Back-to-back travel has prevented me from working on my blog this past month, which, quite honestly, is not a good thing for me. The things I write in this blog cause me to dig deep into the Word of God; not writing means I am not spending as much time in the Word as I am accustomed to doing. And not spending much time in the Word is a recipe for danger – spiritual danger.

The Word guards our heart. Without the Word in our lives daily, the enemy can sneak in and wreak havoc…in our lives, and through us, in the lives of others. That's just how it works.

Demons of fear, anxiety, stress, anger, pride, arrogance, jealousy, strife, division….all of these lurk around us at all times, seeking a way in…IF we let our guard down. And once they pounce on us, it gets more and more difficult to reach for the Word at all. The demonic whirlwind that we inadvertently invited in, swirls around us keeping us from seeing clearly, until the dust eventually settles and we can see once more.

That's when our eyes are opened and we see how naked we are. That's when we see clearly how the devil was able to use us, diverting us from our course, preventing us from accomplishing something great for the kingdom….perhaps preventing us from bringing some ONE into the kingdom, perhaps even a lost loved one.

That's when the cock crows for us three times, just like it did for Peter. And that's when we raise our voices in wails of shame and remorse for what was lost and for what can never be undone; a lost opportunity that can never be regained. Certainly, there will be other opportunities, but not THAT one. Never that one again.

We allowed busy-ness to take center stage, displacing Jesus Christ…for just one very important moment.

Well, the cock has crowed for me this time. And as I look back, I can see just exactly how it happened. And it all began when I stopped sitting down to focus on the WORD.

So, here I am, finally, blogging again; writing about God's Perfect Love shown to us through the precious gift of His only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ, who willingly gave His own life to save us from the punishment of our sins; sins of commission and sins of omission (such as neglecting to be a witness of God's love to others when the demons of busy-ness invade.)

For it is Perfect Love that draws me back to Him, time and time again, when I seem to lose my way for just a moment. And when I am saddened by my own actions, it is Perfect Love that reminds me that He loved me (and still does love me) enough to have died for me. And when I cry out in repentance asking for forgiveness for stumbling yet again, it is Perfect Love that forgives me much more than seven times or even seventy times seven.

It is Perfect Love that renews me and gives me strength to carry on in the midst of a world that is abounding in iniquity as the time grows shorter before His soon return.

A lost and dying world cannot comprehend this Perfect Love. And so we are sent to exhibit this Perfect Love to those who are blind and naked, as we once were.

It is the one I just experienced, that loves me even when I am at my worst, that forgives me when I don't deserve to be forgiven for I have done that same thing time and time again; yet Perfect Love continues to love me and Perfect Love continues to hope all things for me. Perfect Love causes me to hope.

That is how we show Perfect Love to the world…by loving and hoping…even when it seems impossible to continue to do so…still we do. First we learn to love ourselves, because He first loved us and showed us how to love ourselves properly rather than selfishly, and then we love others as ourselves. Oddly, it is not a self-centered thing; for when we see what we are worth in His eyes, we see others as worth that much as well. Thus, they, and we, are worth loving and worth hoping for, not because of anything we have done or could ever do, but because He loves us. It is all about Him: Perfect Love.

And it is Perfect Love that this holiday season is all about: Jesus Christ – God's Perfect Love towards us.

Thank you, Father, for the gift of all gifts. Help us to set aside worldly gifts for the privilege of sharing YOUR Gift to the world this Christmas. Help us to grow in Perfect Love.

AMEN.