A passage that I have been thinking about for a long time comes from 1 Corinthians 13:
'Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.' 1 Corinthians 13:4 - 8aI seem to get the message all around me, that if something is too hard, then maybe it is not God's best for my life. I have heard the statement, 'God did not intend life to be this hard.' I completely agree with it. I do not believe that my loving Dad created me for a life of hardship and pain. No good Father would do such a thing.
At the same time, where is enduring love, if there is nothing to endure? How can love 'endure all things' when life is easy and pain free?
This morning, I spent some time with God, asking these questions.
One thing I see in God's character is the utter determination to not give up on people or on relationship. He pursues relationship no matter how often he is disappointed, rejected, mocked, hated, misunderstood...
It seems to be God's desire for love to be the basis of all we do. When asked to sum up all the laws and commandments, Jesus bought everything back to love.
'And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, "Which commandment is the most important of all?" Jesus answered, "The most important is, 'Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these."' Mark 12:28 - 31However, 'extravagant love' cannot be used as an excuse for stupid choices. A person cannot stay in an ungodly or abusive relationship and say that she is just 'extravagantly loving' her partner. If love is the basis for everything, then she also needs to love herself and staying in that relationship would be far from loving to herself.
The point I am making, is that God does not easy give up on people. In love, he believes in me, in us, even when we don't live up to the fullness of who he made us to be.
Maybe God want us to not give up on people easily either?
1 comment:
thanks for this, it's a lovely insight into God's character and how it should shape our responses :)
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