Abounding Love

Abounding Love

I know that I have often written concerning love and yet here I am again writing once more regarding the subject. It is a subject that I feel that needs to be so indoctrinated into our lives so that when others see us they can see Christ through us. So many of us are so wrapped up in what God can do for us that we neglect what He needs to be doing for others and we miss the picture where we are a part of what He is doing for others. The apostle Paul wrote often in regards to love because he saw the effects of what the lack of love could do; how it could destroy the entire church and how the lack of it would turn people away from Jesus Christ.

Php 1:9 And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment;
Php 1:10 That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ;
Php 1:11 Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.

That your love may abound; Jesus said, “by this shall all men know that you are my disciples, that you love one another;” but He didn’t end there. He went on to say; “as I have loved you.” So what does it mean to have abounding love? Is it love to do things that make you look good? Is it love when things are done in the name of the church? Is love concerned with numbers or quality? I am convinced that many of our programs are not being done out of love but as a way to pat ourselves on the back and the reason I say this is because so often we begin the sentence with we or our instead of Jesus Christ or God. This is the whole purpose of love; it reflects the glory away from us and places it where it belongs; unto the glory and praise of God. Many of us attempt to have a ministry and the problem is we begin to think of it as our ministry leaving Jesus Christ and God out of it; oh we might claim that it is for them and we even preach them but the truth is that we readily take all the credit for what is going on inside the ministry instead of giving the glory to Them, and truth be told those that might be benefiting from the ministry know that there is a lack of love. They know that they are merely numbers or statistics to you; another feather in your cap. That is the difference between a good thing and a God thing because a God thing doesn’t worry about numbers. A God thing doesn’t look for recognition and a God thing is invested in the lives of others out of a pure love. It does not expect anything in return nor does it judge the outcome but leaves the results in the hand of the One who deserves all honor and praise. He didn’t add to the early church daily simply because they witnessed, He added as He saw fit and it was based upon their love for others, for how else does one find favor with all men except by love.

Friends we have gotten so wrapped up in who’s name is on every single program that we have succeeded in turning countless thousands away from the gospel of Christ because to be quite honest who would want to be a part of something that is no different then they can find on the streets. The excellent things are the things of Christ. It is the selfless, self-sacrificing love that invests itself in the individuals. The excellent things are the God things that manifest themselves in our genuine love of others. It is not just handing them a box of food and sending them on their way nor is it simply sharing the gospel with them it is making an investment in them that regardless of how many times they refuse to go to church with you, you continually invite them and then you continually go out of your way to meet their needs, and then you continually take their calls in the middle of the night and you go with them to the police station. You wrap your arms around them and comfort them, you continue in love and leave the results up to God because He is the one who adds to the church as He sees fit. We have put boundaries on our love and call it casting our pearls before the swine when people do not respond in the manner we deem acceptable and have placed ourselves as their judges when judgment has been given to the Son. We do this because we look at Christianity as a business and the bottom line is we need to see some return in investment and have placed all the glory on ourselves. We look at these mega churches and assume that they have things right and the truth is that in some cases they don’t but that is not up to us to decide it is God’s place to know their hearts. What I see in scripture is that as the churches grew He scattered them so that the gospel could be scattered. Paul was sitting in prison not because God couldn’t get him out but because God had a purpose for him there. He had a captive audience much in the same way that we have captive audiences when we go through different trials and tribulations. His guards couldn’t leave him unguarded if they did they could expect potential death for leaving their post. When we go through illnesses and are bedridden in the hospital what better opportunity to share Christ? Where is your roommate going to go? However the thing is, it is not just about speaking it but how we respond to the trials and how we respond shows His love for us to others. James tells us that we are to count it all joy when we fall into various trials and tribulations knowing that the trying of your faith worketh patience, but let patience have her perfect work that you might be perfect and entire wanting nothing. These are the very attributes of God and His patience towards us and they reveal His love towards us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us; not that we would be glorified but that the Father would be glorified. His whole purpose was to glorify the Father. He loved, even though He was hated, He comforted even though He received no comfort; He healed, even though He received no thanks. When I stop to think about it I wonder if we are any different than those who quit following Him because we too are looking for a sign for what He can do for us. We are looking for that sign that shows it will all be worth it and until we see it, well we just aren’t going to give love as He asks us too; after all we have a family to consider. Yet that Roman guard stood beneath the cross, witnessing His death and even though he knew that he could possibly be executed he spoke those words that have rung throughout the years, “Truly this was the Son of God!” He saw no miracles that were performed, all he saw was the punishment for our sin laid upon Him and that was enough for him to be convinced of the truth and yet it didn’t end there because three days later He arose, defeating death that we might know that we too would have everlasting life. What more do we really need to see to encourage us to love? How can we love Him who we cannot see if we do not love those who we can see?

I asked my Pastor a question today and I pose it to you as well. Do you think that we would need apologetics if we truly loved in the manner that we should love? Think about it logically. What better proof does one need than to display the love of God towards others? How much more evidence would one need if the fruits of the Spirit were evident in the lives of those who are called by His name? I am not saying that they would all believe because even though these things were present in the early church not everyone believed but the results were left up to God because once again He added to the church as He saw fit. Many times I believe that we use apologetics as a tool to show our own intelligence, that others might look at us and brag about how well we handled certain situations or debates and yet our answers are so empty and void of love that even when we have provided a good argument we have lost the battle because God is no where in the response. I see many of us attacking the President of the United States in a manner that is so far away from God that it is little wonder that many unbelievers attack us in the way that they do. How quickly we have forgotten that David repented that he had laid hands upon God’s anointed. How quickly we have forgotten the words of Christ to Pilot that he had no power except it had been given to him by the Father. This is not saying that they are doing things in a righteous way only that they have been put into the position so that His purpose can be achieved. It is because we fail to be obedient that we are allowed to these positions and it is our reaction to these trials that speak volumes to unbelievers. Yet we insist on bashing those in authority over us and then have the nerve to claim that we are Christians when the world does the same thing. This does not mean that we blindly go along with what they want to accomplish but we rebut it in a manner that is pleasing to God. Daniel exemplified this as did Christ. Yet when we deny the very fruits that we are to possess we prove their presuppositions regarding God.

Gal 5:19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,

Gal 5:20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,

Gal 5:21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

The world sees enough of this and when we insist on having the same characteristics of the world then they see no reason for God. In fact in their mind it only goes to prove that He does not exist, however;

Gal 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,

Gal 5:23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

Notice the first fruit. Without it the rest will not come. Without love there is no joy. Without it you cannot have peace nor can you have longsuffering or patience. Without it gentleness and goodness is non-existent. Without love faith becomes irrelevant and meekness and temperance are thrown out the window. Jesus said that love covers a multitude of sins and that is the difference between the love that we claim to have and the true love of the Father. It is evident when it produces the remainder of the fruit. I am convinced that when we get our love right we will see great revival however I also believe that we may have to endure even greater trials before we will get it right because;

Gal 5:24 And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.

Gal 5:25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

Gal 5:26 Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.

We refuse these very things.

Abounding love! The first step is to have it towards Him who gave us life and loved us enough to take on the form of man and become the perfect sacrifice for us and until we get that right we can little hope to get our love right with others.
Php 1:6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ: