Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Morning Moments

The Struggle between Truth and Love!

When Paul was writing his first letter to the Corinthians, he wrote about spiritual gifts in chapter 12.  Without acknowledging chapter divisions and recognizing that the whole book is simply one letter, he continues to tell them that three important things remain which are essential to the Christian Life, faith (by which we live), hope (the confidence that faith brings), and love (which is the evidence of our faith and hope.

When John (the Beloved) wrote to Gaius, he said that it brought him great joy for believers to walk in TRUTH.  So while the choleric apostle write of love, the melancholy apostles writes of truth.  Today it seems that we prefer love to truth, and yet the balance come when we understand the Truth about Love.

Both truth and love are eternal but we must love according to truth, rather than at the expense of it.  Let me illustrate the point:

It is the TRUTH that GOD IS LOVE, but it is TRUTH that GOD CHASTENS WHOM HE LOVES and that if we are without chastisement, we are NOT children of God, as the writer of Hebrews teaches in chapter 12.  So, if I love my child I will chasten my child.  That chastening e voles both correction and direction.  The Psalmist wrote, "Thy rod (for correcting) and thy staff (for directing), they comfort me."  THAT is TRUTH that indicates LOVE.  To put it plainly, there is little need to claim love for a child you will not discipline (correct and direct).

THAT being the case, we must understand that love (God's love in us - 1 Cor 13:4-8) - DEMANDS that we LOVE according to revealed TRUTH and not without it.  Love without truth leads to an un disciplined life, but truth without love leads to a hard heart.  We MUST.LOVE, so we MUST discipline!  We MUST discipline, so we MUST  LOVE.

All things considered, we can conclude that the most disciplined of us are the most loving, and the most loving of us are disciplined.  That is the balance!  To love without disciple leads to slothfulness, but to discipline without love leads to harshness.

No comments: