[Love] does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 1 Corinthians 13:6
***I've asked my dear friend, Chris Ballew, to be my special guest writer today. His Monday Morning Minute(MMM) is gonna bless ya, so grab your coffee and let's dive into the word!***
All this month Marla has been speaking about love. And not just any love, but the Love of God. The love we desire to receive and the love He desires us to display. These scriptures in 1 Corinthians are so important because they help us identify TRUE love. This week's scripture gives us a model of comparison when determining if what we are experiencing is love or not, making it one of the strongest, in my opinion. In fact, I feel it is one the enemy has worked overtime to confuse people on because it's one of the hardest to grasp, for me at least. I have struggled immensely with how to communicate God's heart on this. But I feel I have done my best.
Love does not rejoice about injustice - To better understand what it looks like to rejoice in something, I went to my thesaurus and found the synonym for the word, triumph. This helped me to really understand what love is not.
I thought of the many groups who, over the centuries, have made conquests and committed heinous acts in the name of love ... in the name of Jesus Christ. Because they loved Jesus, they were compelled to commit violent, destructive, hurtful, life-ending acts to show their love. The truth is, these acts were done out of hate. This hate was because people were different than them. Hate because those they were persecuting were blessed by God. Hate because people didn't believe in the same God they did. They literally triumphed in the injustice that was done being deceived into thinking they were acting in love. The Jews who crucified Jesus in the name of God also make a great example of this. Oh, the irony!
Love rejoices when truth wins out - If we continue with the thought of triumph, this means that Love is triumphant when truth wins out. The only source of truth is found in the person of Jesus. His character, His grace, His obedience to the father and what He knows to be true about you, and all people, regardless of your current circumstances. You and I are fearfully and wonderfully made. We were saved by the blood of Jesus when we were still sinners. God's will is that ALL men be saved and as long as there is breath in someone's lungs, they have a chance.
Rejoicing in truth becomes difficult when we are faced with the decision of how to treat someone who has wronged us. They have chosen to rejoice (triumph) in injustice but will we choose to rejoice (triumph) in truth winning out in their life? Are we willing to look past our pain and hurt, our desire for vengeance and justice, and see the things in someone the Lord sees? Guess what ... it's the same thing He sees in us! They are fearfully and wonderfully made. They were saved by the blood of Jesus when they were still sinners. God's will is that ALL men be saved and as long as there is breath in their lungs, they have a chance.
Think about all the murderers, rapists, child molesters, terrorists, those who shoot up schools, those who have taken part in the massacre of hundreds of thousands of people, love rejoices when truth wins out. When one of those people realize the love Jesus holds for THEM, repents in their heart, changes the way they think about the Lord and other people, and truly experiences a radical change in the direction of their lives, this is love. This is the time to rejoice.
I will admit, just writing and re-reading these words is hard. It's not easy. But it does help me to remember all the things in my life that put Jesus on the cross, all the things he was able to look past to love me and cry out to the Father, "forgive them, for they know not what they do."
I encourage you, as we finish out this month of love, to look at the relationships in your life where love is hard and use this comparison model to evaluate which side of love you are on. Are you rejoicing in the thoughts of further injustice being done to them? Or do you rejoice in the truth of what God says and will you stand on that truth until truth wins out?
Love you!
Christopher Ballew
Prayer
Jesus I thank you that the real truth of my life is found in you. Thank you that Your love for me is far greater than anyone could ever love me. Help me to allow Your Truth to win out daily in my life. In Your Name I pray, Amen!
I want to hear from you! Please comment below - This week, take a moment to think about an area where you need to focus on showing love until truth wins out and simply comment "I will triumph in truth!"