Love

Verse of the Week:

For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: "Love your neighbor as yourself." Galatians 5:14

Love

I remember one time seeing a pastor carry a backpack full of weights during his sermon.  While on stage he was talking about how without Christ, life can be a burden.  Cool concept; however, sometimes I think some Christians feel that LIVING FOR CHRIST can actually be a BURDEN!  I know I have felt that way before, but after understanding the message of grace and love, I begin to realize how Christ  truly does give us abundant life.

If we really truly UNDERSTAND God’s grace and love, serving God will not be a burden, but a JOY and a privilege to do.  You see, a lot of people believe that when Christians receive grace,  that many Christians, not truly understanding what God did for them, will continue to sin. After all, they are forgiven for all their sins, so why not keep sinning?  So in order to make sure that Christians actually do what God has in store for them, teachers go right back around and hammer the law and commands back into their lives as a measure of control to make sure they really do follow God.  They insist that sacrifices have to be made to follow God in the Christian life and is necessary to receive God's blessings and approval. As a result, Christians feel disappointed when they mess up and guilt is heaped upon them when they do not do everything perfectly. I myself felt the heavy burden of trying to do the right thing and never succeeding. Here is a secret... laws and commands do not keep us from sinning;  in fact the law increases sin;  “[…] the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies […]” (Romans 7:5)  We must understand that we are free from the written code of the law.  Colossians 2:13-14 explains it perfectly:

“When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ.  He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code with its regulations that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross.”

You see, the written code of the law is gone, Jesus is in.  God doesn’t want us to be drowning in a heap of guilt because we cannot be obedient to all of the commands of the old covenant.  Here is even better news,  we do not have to do anything to receive God's blessings, He has already blessed us!  

If people truly are saved, then Christ is alive in them.  What we need to relearn in society is that in Christ we are a new creation, Christ lives in us and will continue His good work through us.   I once asked my Dad a long time ago about his salvation experience.  What was the difference between before he was saved, and after he was saved.  He said, “Katrina, after I became a Christian, I didn’t want to sin anymore.”  You see, when we have Christ in us, we do not desire to sin, so why do we keep trying to force the law back on Christians in fear that they will go and start sinning because they can?  I am not saying that Christians won't mess up, but we need to spare ourselves of the guilt trip, and move on. We are saved by grace!

So let’s shift gears for a moment, and refer back to how if we truly understand God’s love then it is a JOY to serve Him and not a burden.  God’s love is AMAZING to me!  My heart bursts with joy when I think about the love God has shown me, and my deepest desire is to share it with others.  In the Bible it talks about how there is no greater love than to die for ones friends (John 15:13).  Jesus died not only for friends but for every single person who is held in bondage by sin and is destined to go to hell.  WOW!!!  That is true Agape love!  Agape love is the kind of love that is only focused on another person’s best interest.  Jesus only had our best interests in mind when he went through torture on the cross to save us. Here is what is even more awesome!  All we have to do is receive that free gift of love.  No strings attached!  Jesus paid it all!  

God’s love is unconditional.  In Romans 8:1 it says, “There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,”  Once we have accepted Christ into our hearts, God is not there to condemn us for every single sin we have committed.  His love is unconditional; it does not matter what sin, you have committed,  from murder to adultery to stealing. Jesus washed it away and no longer condemns us for any sins we committed or will commit.   Sadly enough, people in our society both Christians and non-Christians display conditional love at times and turn their back on people if they mess up.  God, however, doesn’t turn his back on us,  He loves us more and His grace increases all the more!  “But where sin increases, Grace increases all the more.”  Thanks you Jesus for GRACE!

We can never be separated from God’s love.  Nothing in this life or the life to come can ever take us away from God’s love. “ ⁸ For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹ neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39)  Nothing folks and I mean NOTHING can keep us from God’s love.  Wow!!!

There is so much more to God’s love, but it would take thousands of pages to write about it all.  Keeping God’s love in mind, why would the things we do in Christ be a burden?  What a joy it is to serve a God who loves so deeply! How do we serve the one we love so much because of His outpouring love for us?  For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: "Love your neighbor as yourself." (Galatians 5:14)   I know what you are thinking,  "Wait a minute, Katrina, didn't you just say that we are free from the law and commands?"  You just gave us another law to follow, to love others."  Once again, you have to read the content before and after the verse.  

Before the verse,  Paul is talking about how the law has no value.  He says, "For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision [circumcision was another law the Jews had to follow] has any value. The only thing that counts if faith expressing itself through love."  Therefore the law has no value, but FAITH that shows LOVE does.

Let's also read Galatians 5:13-16, 18:
 ^"You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. The entire law is summed up in a single command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” If you keep on bitting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.

So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.

But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law."

You see, when by faith we accept Christ and receive forgiveness of our sins, Christ's spirit comes to live inside of us.  If we are led by Christ's spirit, we are not under the law.  Christ's spirit is full of love, therefore, we want to love; it is not an obligation or command.  However, in Galatians Paul is describing how amazing love is.  Love is such an amazing and complex action that it actually fulfills the law if we were actually under the law.

 “And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.” (1 John 4:16)  God’s love is in us ready to be on display for the world to see. I no longer feel burdened to give to others (a law given to us); no, I give freely out of the love in my heart.  I no longer sacrifice in helping those in need (another law); no, I joyfully help those in need because I love them.  I no longer force myself to forgive others (another command), I desire to forgive, because of the one who loved and forgave me. We do these things because of Christ’s love in us not because it is a burden or a command.  Love because he first loved us!

Happy Easter!  May Christ show his AMAZING love to you and your family this season!