Quote:
Originally Posted by Amanah
I was thinking that just emotion would not keep kids saved. That unless they were grounded in the word of God, the emotionally feeling of *loving God* would not be enough to keep them. That love is what you do, not what you feel. But you took such offense to my statement that I backed off, I didn't really want to debate or argue.
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I didn't take offense. I apologize if it seemed like I did.
I think we might have it backwards. Let me explain though, because without a proper explanation it might not make sense. So, try to follow my reasoning and please share what you think.
I've been an Apostolic for around 28 years. The first church I attended at 13 years old was labeled "ultra-conservative". I mean, we didn't believe in attending sporting events because we didn't believe in fresh air. lol I mean, I loved God. I mean, really loved Jesus. However, it seemed like as I got older loving Him became more complicated. Hormones, pride, dreams, temptation, girls, school, that simple love I had at 13 years old just seemed to be something lost to the past. The rules seemed to be my saving grace. If I obeyed, I knew I was making the right decisions. I knew that I was good with God.
I was a "true believer". A "legalist of the legalists" if you will. I was convinced that love is what I did, not how I felt. If I obeyed the rules, I loved God. If I didn't obey the rules, I didn't love God. This led to a series of "up's and down's" in my spiritual life. As I was increasingly confronted with the reality of my sinful nature I found myself in a constant repetitious pattern of living victoriously... then failing somewhere in my life... feeling like I must not love God enough... then recommitting and repenting, promising to never fall again because I would NOW prove my love.... then I would get the victory again for a while.... only to fail again somewhere else in my life... and the pattern repeated itself over and over and over. I begged God to give me the ability to show Him more love by helping me to be obedient. I sought out people who I thought had constant victory, only to discover.... they were repeating the same pattern I was.
What happens to a young man (or perhaps even a young woman) when they've been told that if they love God they will obey... and they've failed in their obedience for the 1,000th time??? I'll tell you what I felt and what other teens my age said....
"I've tried and tried only to fail time and time again. I must not really love God enough. All of this is a waste of time."
I heard statements like this so many times as friends would leave church and go off into the world. But I'm a stubborn person. I decided that I wasn't going to give up no matter what. Oh, plenty of times I felt like a failure. And I'd just sit and prayer and say, "I know I'm a failure. But I love you, Jesus. I've failed you so many times, but you've never failed me. I'll never just give up. You are everything to me, even though sometimes I don't act like it."
I graduated school and joined the Army. And... I backslid. I got the victory, got back in the swing of things in church and then I got married. Then, 12 years later, I went through a divorce and... I backslid again. That's when I tried to run from God. But... He wouldn't leave me alone.
There was a bar called, The Red Carpet. Honestly, as far as bars go, it was a really friendly place. I don't like confrontation, so this friendly little bar was a home away from home for me after my marriage fell apart. I'd drink myself silly and stagger a block back home. However, Jesus wouldn't leave me alone. I got the nickname, "Bishop", at the bar because if I was drunk enough, and someone said something about God... I'd straighten them out and even preach from the bar stool! LOL And here's the kicker, I was running FROM God! I was drunk as a skunk... but when the anointing moved on me, I could still feel Him. I'd walk home crying, begging Him to leave me alone. Cursing Him and DEMANDING that He just leave me be! He wouldn't leave. I even got bored and made a couple lady friends. You'd think that would do it, right? Guess what? He STILL wouldn't leave.
That's when I broke down and just surrendered. I looked for a descent church, but I couldn't find one. Being divorced, they acted like they didn't know what to do with me. And the experience was negative too. I found that for some reason, loud noises, music, screaming, running, etc. would trigger my PTSD. But that's another story altogether. But it was about at that time when I met a couple house church elders who introduced me to house churching. And I've house churched since.
I took me over 20 years to figure this out. My obedience doesn't prove that I love God. Here, let me give you an example....
The Law of God says: "Thou shalt not steal."
Let's say that I choose not to steal my neighbor's lawn mower. Does that prove that I love God? Nope. Maybe I just don't want to be charged for theft.
The Law of God says: "Thou shalt not commit adultery."
Let's say that I choose not to seduce my neighbor's wife. Does that prove that I love God? Nope. Maybe she's ugly. LOL Or maybe I know my neighbor owns a gun! LOL!
Let's say that the church has a rule against long hair and I choose not to allow my hair to grow long. Does that prove that I love God? Nope. Maybe I just don't want to look like I belong in an 80's rock group.
Let's say the church has a standard against beards, short sleeves, television, etc.... if I choose to comply with any of these, does it "prove" that I love God??? Nope. I might just want acceptance of my peers.
So... love isn't what I do, because I can do what I do without loving anyone but myself and my own agenda.
However... what if we flip this? What if I just simply choose to LOVE God, I mean, just focus on LOVING God?
If I just focus on loving Jesus, will I steal my neighbor's lawn mower? Nope. Frankly, it won't even cross my mind because my love for God will cause me to love my neighbor too much to do him harm.
If I just focus on loving Jesus, will I seduce my neighbor's wife, even if she's a total babe? Nope. Because my love for God will cause me to love my neighbor too much to wreck his family and leave his kids paying the price of living in a broken home.
When Love is the single driving force.... it governs all things. I'll dress modestly because my love for God and others will not want to insight passions in others that might cause them to sin or that can't be fulfilled. I'll not watch vile things on television that exploit people for selfish gratification and the love of money. I won't eat or drink anything in the presence of a brother or sister who might be offended. Love alone fulfils it all through simply being what it is.
Paul put it this way:
Romans 13:8-10 (ESV)
8 Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9 For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
So, allowing myself to be governed by the love that I feel for God and others causes me to automatically desire to do what's right and cause no harm. Why? Because I would feel terrible if I hurt God or hurt another.
Try it. Get up tomorrow and decide that you have only ONE rule. Love. And in keeping that rule, chose to love God and love others. Live your entire day focused on that single reality. It will even have you going out of your way to do things you ordinarily wouldn't do. Like make coffee for the office, deliver the coffee to a busy coworker. You'll notice people's faces and tone of voice and something in your heart will leap out to befriend and comfort them. Suddenly the entire world will change. Driving down the road you'll look at people wondering where they're headed. What their dreams are in life. What have they been going through. It won't matter if the odds are way against a person becoming a member of your church... you'll stop and take some time to care and to love them. It won't matter what kind of life they live, money they make, sins they have, kind of skin color they have, and the list could go on forever.
Some Judaizers came into the Galatian church claiming that the Gentile converts had to obey the Law of Moses and be circumcised to prove their love for God. Like any red-blooded male, things just got real. They are talking about snipping our, um, well, ... you know. OUCH! This is no joke. These Judaizers make a very strong case. However, someone evidently thought they'd reach out and see what Paul has to say about all this. Paul emphasizes that circumcision of the flesh means nothing. It's a circumcision of the heart that matters. But Paul said something else. He told them the same thing he told the church in Rome....
Galatians 5:13-14 (ESV)
13 For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Love, all by itself, fulfills the whole law.
Now, are we perfect? Nope. We'll have days when we aren't so focused on love... and I assure you... those are the days we'll stumble. But the answer isn't promising not to ever do that terrible thing again. The answer is... drawing a greater focus on our love for God and our love for others.
This is what it means to have God's Law... written on our hearts.
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