When you truly love someone, you find yourself developing a love for the things that he or she loves. It should be no different concerning our relationship with the Lord. The more love we have for the Lord, the more love we display for the things dearest to Him. This means that the closer we draw to Him, the more we will love things that He loves, like judgment (Isaiah 61:8) and righteousness (Psalm 11:7), the lost (John 3:16) and the saved (1 John 4:21), peace and truth (Zechariah 8:19). We will also have a greater love for the Jewish people (Zechariah 2:8). Perhaps a more accurate gauge by which to judge your love for the Lord is to gauge your love for the things which He loves.
Today’s verse is by far the most well-known and beloved verse in all of scripture. Yet, it contains a concept that is most often misunderstood and misconstrued by Christians and non-Christians alike. Although society flippantly uses this word love, real biblical love sacrifices. Christ’s love for us demonstrates this truth (Galatians 2:20; Ephesians 5:25). True love costs the person who chooses to love. When an individual loves someone else, his love is best demonstrated by the sacrifices he makes. This holds true concerning God’s demonstrated love for the world. God gave His only begotten Son to die for the sins of the world. God loved so God gave! In like manner, any person who truly loves the Lord will gladly sacrifice in order to manifest that love.
The common misconception concerning love is that it simply involves an emotion felt for those for whom we care. Although love is associated with our emotions, love is, in reality, much deeper than an emotion. It is first and foremost a choice that we consciously make. When God commanded His people to love Him, He was not asking them to feel an emotion, but rather, to choose to care for Him. In like manner, when the Lord commanded husbands to love their wives (Ephesians 5:25), He was not asking merely for an emotional attachment, but something much deeper and far greater. In fact, love is something that can be taught and learned. In Titus 2:4, the older women are to teach the younger women to love their husbands and children. Therefore, when God asks us to love, He is asking us to make a choice to love others regardless of our swinging moods or wavering feelings. Love is a choice to make and a decision to do what God has directed His children to do.
God is as equally concerned with what we do as to how we do it. It is not only important that we have the right kind of conversation, but that our conversation be based on “simplicity and godly sincerity.” In other words, our conversation should be genuine and never extravagant. People behave for different reasons. Sometimes those reasons are godly, yet at other times they reflect ungodliness. Anyone can feign a good conversation for a short period; however, only with the Lord's help can one's motives consistently match his actions. Paul not only sought to have his conversation right before the Lord, but also desired a genuine change of heart to bring forth the proper conversation.
The Bible teaches us that “if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Following salvation, a man's life should display visible changes as he seeks to put off his former conversation. According to scripture, that former conversation fulfilled “the desires of the flesh and of the mind” (Ephesians 2:3). By the grace of God, change is possible because every believer has been redeemed from his “vain conversation” (1 Peter 1:18). The apostle Paul is a great example. Before meeting the Lord on the road to Damascus, Paul's conversation or lifestyle involved mercilessly persecuting the church (Galatians 1:13). In his new life with Christ, he immediately began preaching the very faith he once destroyed (Galatians 1:23). When a person truly places his faith for salvation in the finished work of Christ, his conversation will change accordingly.
According to the Bible, before a man trusts Christ as Saviour, he remains the enemy of God (Romans 5:10; Colossians 1:21). But God, in His great mercy, saves His enemies as they individually choose to trust in Christ’s payment for their sins. Though a Christian has the indwelling Spirit, he never fully comprehends all that the Lord has done for him through salvation. This is why the Bible says that God’s love passes all knowledge (Ephesians 3:19). However, the more a man draws nigh to God, the more he learns about the kindness God has shown him through Jesus Christ. No matter how we learn in this life, eternity will continue to reveal to the saints the depths of the kindness of God. No wonder the greatness and marvellous nature of His love is truly beyond comprehension.
Proverbs 31 reveals the attributes of a virtuous woman (Proverbs 31:10). Though a virtuous woman possesses many wonderful traits, perhaps her greatest strength lies in the manner in which she speaks—with wisdom. This God-given wisdom enables her to refrain her lips from foolishness, instead choosing to edify others with her speech. Many people offer others advice and even wisdom, but this woman is said to speak with the “law of kindness” in her tongue. Not only does she speak wisely, but she presents this wisdom with the right spirit--the spirit of kindness. Apparently, when she speaks wisely, her words encourage others to listen and heed what she says. Her hearers want to receive her words and put them into practice. Why? Because she presents her words with this “law of kindness” much like those today who are “speaking the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15).
Our previous study revealed that kindness refers to treating someone as a cherished member of the family. The Bible proclaims that God is great in kindness (Nehemiah 9:17). It also reveals that kindness is marvellous (Psalm 31:21) and full of mercy (Psalm 117:2). Believers should be thrilled to know that God demonstrates this kindness toward His beloved creation. By nature, men are the children of wrath (Ephesians 2:3). Yet, each person has the opportunity to be treated like a beloved member of God’s family as a result of Christ's sacrifice on the cross (Titus 3:4). Those who have trusted Christ as Saviour have been granted the inestimable privilege of being “heirs” of God (Titus 3:7) and “joint-heirs” with Christ (Romans 8:17). This blessing, generally intended for and limited to family, is extended to those whom God counts as family.
