In case you did not know it, it is FRIDAY. In addition to Friday signaling the beginning of the weekend, it also is Sharing Life day. Today I have the pleasure of welcoming an online friend whom I consider a Proverbs 27:17 friend….she sharpens me. With every conversation Kathy Schwanke challenges me to press in harder to Jesus and stand more firmly on His Word. Today, Kathy offers one of those sharpening posts.
Married to her high school sweetheart, Dale for 33 years, Kathy is a mother of two and grandmother of four. She lives in the St Croix river valley in Minnesota. Kathy’s heart is for teaching, speaking, writing & encouraging women to live abundant, free and fruitful lives in Jesus.
Blog: Savoring Light: http://kathyschwanke.com/
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And a lawyer stood up and put Him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
And He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How does it read to you?”
And he answered, “YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND; AND YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.”Luke 10:25-27
You may be seeing it too. Around the Internet, in recently published Christian books, an emphasis on this summary of the above passage, “Love God, love people.” Often, as if it’s all we need to live the Christian life.
Initially, the preaching of it was a seeking to move us away from legalism and self-serving. The words have gone out and they ring true for those of us who know the Lord.
It’s easy to grab hold of a simple statement and let it turn into a mantra.
So often, as words go out and embed into our hearts, the ripple effect can, in the process of transference, lose their impact as well as their meaning.
Love is such a broadly used word today; I fear it’s true definition has become obscure.
“I love coffee.” And “I love Jesus.”
Now, common words we find on wooden wall-art, t-shirts and coffee mugs, “Just give me a little bit of coffee and a whole lot of Jesus!”
In our minds, the familiar happy-couple greet us each morning and we’ve stylishly snapped our Instagram photos with an outreached hand gripping a beautified mug.
But that picture doesn’t encapsulate the messy reality of true, sacrificial love.
Do I need to give away my coffee and t-shirt money instead of consuming it? I wrestle with that question.
As I’ve observed the “Love movement” scrolling across my screen, it has sometimes felt like a burden, like love has become a law imposed rather than the movement of giving from a sincere heart. Reading writer’s words that exhort us to be accepting, and to ensure that people feel like they belong.
Those are all GOOD things. Accept people. Grant a sense of belonging.
But I’ve seen something about this movement that causes me pause, eliciting a sense of heaviness. Because I’m seeing the outcome, I’m seeing that if we don’t balance acceptance and belonging with discipline, discernment, and correction, we will veer off course “in the name of love.”
Chaos will ensue without balancing the soft, compassionate side of love with what I call “the hard side of love,” the law.
Looking back at Jesus’ words to the lawyer, we can see the love-emphasis is on loving God first. Loving Him with our whole heart, soul, mind and strength.
This means loving Him must be both before and above loving people.
When the order is reversed, I fear that true love is lost. We commonly call this watered-down love; the love without discipline and training, “spoiling” or “coddling.”
Jesus has this to say about truly loving Him:
“He who has my commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.” . . . “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me.” John 14:23-24
And He clarifies the proper balance of His mission for His followers:
And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20
If we “love people” without teaching them to love God’s commandments, we are not truly loving God or people.
Have you sensed love becoming off-balanced in the greater Christian culture? How do you define true love?
