THE CRITICAL ELEMENT
Issue #4 8-March, 1990
As a child, I was exposed very little to the idea of love.
I did not have the great blessing of being raised in a Christian
home. My parents were not God-loving people, neither were my
siblings. I am still desperately uncertain of my parent's salva
tion. I believe that my mother has, at one time in her life,
accepted Christ as her savior. I have no doubt, however, that
she is not allowing Him to be her Lord. My father, unfortunate
ly, is lost. I see nothing in him that suggests the presence of
Christ.
When I was in grade school, my father's temper was very
short. Money was tight then, and he felt pressured to provide my
mother and I with the comforts of life to which we had become
accustomed. At this point in my life, I began to develop a
strong resentment toward my parents. I was angry with my father
because he was making my mother and I miserable. I was angry
with my mother because she, in her over-protective nature, would
not allow me many escapes from the house. It is at that time,
that I turned away from loving my parents. I developed a hard
ness of heart and a bitter attitude toward them. This attitude I
could and often would turn on anyone who provoked me.
Being brought up as I have described, the words "I love you"
were for many years never heard in our home. As a result, these
words had become very difficult for me to say earnestly. Even
when girlfriends would tell me those words, I would reply the
same words only as an act of reciprocity. As I entered what the
world would call my manhood, I would say these words to entice
the act of sex or promote its enjoyment. Can a non-Christian
even fully understand the idea of love? Can an unbeliever hon
estly say "I love you" to someone else and fully mean it? Looking
back on my days in darkness, I now know that the idea of love was
vague to me at best.
When I first became aware of the nature of our God, I was
amazed. To learn that Christ's ministry was one of unparalleled
love was a blessing in itself. Since I had always been apathetic
toward God, I assumed that He was equally as unconcerned about
me. How thankfully wrong I was. God treasures each one of us;
those who do and those who do not know Him. The classic Romans
5:8 states, "God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that
while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." God continues to
show His love for us as is seen in Luke 12:28. "If God so arrays
the grass in the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is
thrown into the furnace, how much more will He clothe you." This
points out that God treasures us and wants to provide for us.
By looking at the greatest men of the Bible we can see one
thing. These men were all desperately seeking the face of God
and strove to be in fellowship with Him. While far from perfect,
these men were after God's own heart. From this we can see that
man was created to have fellowship with God. Because Adam sinned,
all mankind was doomed to be born sinful. However, God's desire
to have fellowship with man was not diminished by his actions.
To reestablish this fellowship, God, the Father, sent Christ, the
Son, to die for us. While Christ was incarnate, He made many
statements about love by His actions. Christ was One who placed
His love for the Father as His primary motivating factor. His
second love was for the people. His very last concern was for
Himself.
Christ's love is the perfect example of how we all should
be. Matthew 22:37-39 states, "You shall love the Lord your God
with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your
mind. This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is
like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
I must confess that I am only now beginning to develop a
love relationship with Christ. I have believed in Him for some
time now, but I am only now beginning to love God for the sake of
loving Him. Obeying the second of these commandments does not
come easily for me. It is often difficult for me to look at
someone with the attitude of love. It is even more challenging
for me to express that love. The hardest part of all is loving
someone who does not love me. I become convicted about that
daily. One verse that hits home is Luke 6:32. "And if you love
those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners
love those who love them."
Christ has brought me a long way in my walk with Him.
Before, I could not express my love even to those who would do so
in earnest to me. As my view of Christ becomes more focused, my
heart begins to conform to His. As that occurs, I can then love
those who love me. I can even begin to have feelings of love and
compassion for those who care nothing for me. God, in answer to
my prayers, has lifted from me the resentment I formerly held for
my parents. He has created within me a new creature, one that is
now capable of loving. This is how I know that Christ is working
in me. Loving someone is not of my own nature. It is a gift
that has come from God.
I believe that to love anyone earnestly, you must first
learn to love God. I know that I was incapable of loving before
I began to love Him. Before this happened the statement of Mark
7:6 accurately described me. "This people honors Me with their
lips, but their heart is far away from Me." Many of us have been
programmed to think that if we accept Christ and believe in Him,
we are set. Is that the abundant life that Christ came so that
we might have? The relationship that we are capable of having
with Christ now is one that is capable of bringing us riches
beyond our dreams. Again, these riches may not be monetary, but
in the confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.
If you have been going through life simply believing, you
may have noticed that all can seem futile at times. I would like
to encourage you to search the accounts of Christ's incarnate
life. Find out what kind of man Christ is, and you will begin to
fall in love with Him. One characteristic of the person who
genuinely loves Christ is that person longs to see Christ face to
face. If this notion startles or even frightens you, consider
the following paragraph. These words are those of A.W. Tozer.
"Mere acquaintance with correct doctrine is a poor substi
tute for Christ, and familiarity with New Testament eschatology
(theology dealing with the last days) will never take the place
of a love-inflamed desire to look on His face. Popular fundamen
talist theology has emphasized the utility of the cross rather
that the beauty of the One who died on it. The saved man's
relation to Christ has been made contractual instead of personal.
The work of Christ has been stressed until it has eclipsed the
person of Christ. Substitution has been allowed to supersede
identification. What He did for me seems to be more important
than what He is to me. Redemption is seen as an across-the-
counter transaction which we accept, and the whole thing lacks
emotional content. We must love someone very much to stay awake
and long for his coming, and that may explain the absence of
power in the advent hope."
I realize that the above passage makes some hard statements.
I believe it holds some hard truths that are applicable to all of
us. I would like for you today to think of your relationship
with Christ. Do you love Him with all your being? Do you love
Him so much that you long to see His face? These are hard ques
tions - ones that I have been asking myself lately. Is it time
to trade in that "good old religion" and begin loving God?
Don't just love God because He loves you. Christ died at
the hands of scoffers and heretics. He did not die for a loving
and appreciative world. Christ did not die for us because we all
loved Him. Christ loves us for the sake of loving us. Let's all
learn to love God for the simple pleasure it brings us, not
because He loves us. I urge you to consider your relationship
with Christ today.
I will leave you with John 21: 15-23. In this passage
Christ asks Simon Peter if he loves Him. Simon responds three
times that he does love Christ. Only after the third time does
Christ say "Follow Me!" If we desire to put our faith in Christ
and follow Him, can we truly do so unless we first love Him? Can
we put our faith, our trust, and our belief in one that we do not
love? I know from my childhood that I cannot trust or believe
unless I first love. Do you love God? If you do not, I pray
that you would stop and begin loving Him.
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