Insightful Musings on the Scriptures

by

Raymond P. Sparre
Northwest University class of '67

Good Sunday morning, dear people.

Earlier it was misting…now it has upgraded to drizzle…the kind you would expect at the coast or in the mountains around timberline. Not real sure again how this day will play out. But I’m going to attempt a jog after sending this.

Yesterday afternoon we finally uncovered the old dory. Thankfully, the engine fired up nicely without any battery charging or any other attention. So we followed through with a plan to drop it in the river, about an hour away. She performed great. I’m sure we caused some amusement—beholding this big ugly wooden dory amidst all those fancy multi-thousand-dollar ski boats. What a culture that is! I don’t think they had any more fun. The little boys sure enjoyed it. We even took Max along. He had a blast. Ice cream cones topped off the excursion.

Blessings on your day.

Love, Dad/Ray.

This is a proverb that would be fitting to hang on the walls of every professing Christian home and Church fellowship. And of course, it would be better if it were made to hang on the inner walls of the hearts of all believers.

Because it is so easy for us to forget, let’s do a brief review of the concept of LOVE from a Biblical perspective. That impresses me as a very worthy exercise when I am reminded that LOVE is of supreme importance in the Kingdom of God. Jesus confirms that there is absolutely nothing of higher priority than for believers to first and foremost sincerely LOVE GOD (the vertical component), and secondly sincerely LOVE OTHERS (the horizontal component) (Matthew 22:37-40). Jesus goes on to state, “All the Law and the Prophets (the whole plan and purpose of God’s dealing with men) hang on these two commandments.” Paul affirms in 1 Corinthians 13 that any kind of external performance of Christianity apart from the internal motivation of love amounts to a worthless waste. That sounds like something pretty important to keep on the front edge of our minds.

Let’s also be reminded of the comparison and contrast between God’s love and man’s love. LOVE could be one of the most widely misunderstood words in the English language. Other languages, like New Testament Greek, communicate the meaning better by using at least 3 distinct words for different forms of LOVE. The highest form, and the word that most accurately describes God’s LOVE, is “agape.” I call it “commitment love.” It is a love that begins in the will and may involve the emotions. It is a LOVE standard that honestly says, “I desire God’s best for that person and will do what I reasonably can to help them achieve it.” It is a standard that empowers one to LOVE even unlikeable people. I confess that there are many people around me that I do not really like and I have little natural desire to be around. But that does not prevent me from LOVING them by God’s standard and still desiring and working toward God’s best for them. And by this standard, LOVE BULDS UP. Man’s common standard of LOVE, however, is one that begins in the emotions and may involve the will. It is highly dependent on personal satisfaction, attention, and tends to be reciprocal. It says, “If you like me, I like you. If you say something nice to me I say something nice to you. You slap me, I slap you.” It’s easy to see how this attitude provides a very shaky foundation for any relationship—marriages, families, churches, schools, businesses, etc. Based on this standard, a man may reason, for example, “My wife irritates me—and I just don’t have those delightful feelings for her anymore. I guess I no longer love her.” Separation or divorce then becomes the solution.

In this passage before us, God is instructing us via Paul that our fulfillment of His edifying LOVE standard requires large measures of God-seeking (A HEART AFTER GOD) and self-denial. Self-denial? Now there’s the real stumbling block for our inherent selfish nature. Think about it.