“Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away. When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known. And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” 1 Corinthians 13:8-13
There is no better, no greater, no higher, no more powerful, nor more fulfilling life pursuit than love. In it is the sum of all that makes us who we are as sons of the God Most High, and directs us toward who we are to become in, by, and through Jesus Christ our Lord.
God is in us by the presence of the Holy Spirit and by His Spirit we are being conformed to the image of Christ. Through Him we are empowered to do all things. In Him we live, and move, and have our being. As believers in Jesus Christ, we have been born again and changed from our old human nature of greed, lusts, selfishness, and sin, into a life of righteousness, peace, joy, health, wholeness, goodness, grace, and love, with compassion for all people, through the love of Jesus Christ our Lord.
We are marked by love as a sign of our new nature and are now given to compassion and mercy toward all and especially toward our enemies.
“Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal… Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. …” 1 Corinthians 13:1-8
Love motivates us to show compassion, mercy, grace, and forgiveness to everyman even the meanest and most wretched among us. Love motivates us to forgive and seek forgiveness for those who treat us badly and trespass against us. Love motivates us to encourage grace and mercy in the hearts of others who suffer wrong at the hands of those in authority over us, and those who presume authority to dominate and deal cruelly with the poor and the weak. Love motivates us to self-control. Love motivates in us a respect for the rights of others and the willingness to disagree peacefully. Love motivates a passion in us for the wisdom from above, for justice with mercy. Love is not arrogant, prideful, or disdainful.
But Love is also NOT weak or passive. Nor does it cower in the face of injustice and violence. Love does not excuse bad behavior on the basis of a false notion that there are those who have a right to perpetrate violence against anyone indiscriminately merely because they feel they have been hurt, abused, or offended. Love distinguishes between the true victims of injustice and those who traffic in anarchy against others; anarchists who only come to loot, pillage, destroy and kill.
Love does not judge or condemn. It does not seek revenge or demand its own way. Love does not riot or seek to foment strife and division, to pillage, plunder or participate in anarchy and wanton destruction of the goods or property of others. Love does not steal, to kill or to destroy. Love does not boast of itself or threaten, it does not rejoice in iniquity nor debase itself in vile, pusillanimous, and degrading behavior.
Love constrains the righteous from irrational and offensive expressions of anger so that we do not take out our frustrations on the innocent, the undefended and the weak among us.
Those who dishonor their positions of public trust and misrepresent the people in matters of government by betraying that trust for political gain or financial advantage to enrich themselves, no matter who they hurt or whose life they destroy with false witness and unfounded accusations, are no different than the anarchists and rioters who burn businesses, pillage stores, destroy and deface property wantonly do evil for evil’s sake.
They should be warned that God is not deceived and there will come a time of reckoning.
Those who riot in the streets and wreak havoc in our cities are not legitimate protestors with a righteous cause. They do not seek justice for those who are oppressed. Their cause is only evil. They are demonically inspired anarchist, bent only on destruction, death, and annihilation.
They will not prevail! We have no mandate from God to coddle them, protect them or defend them. They are among those that Jesus would call “of their father the devil.”
“Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” Galatians 6:7
The influence of evil, death and destruction in the world is evident all around us. So too, is the influence of righteousness, and that in even greater measure. Thank God, those who perpetrate violence and destruction are a very small group of individuals bent on evil. They will fail! They by no mean represent the vast majority of law-abiding God-fearing citizens who desire to live in peace with their neighbors.
Please pray for God’s protection for those on the front lines of defending freedom, justice, and righteousness. Pray also for those whose job it is to protect and serve the community.
Pray for Church leaders, for Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors, and Teachers, to be steadfast, faithful, wise, skillful, compassionate, and gracious and unwavering in proclaiming the truth through their ministries, so that all who hear are edified and exhorted to good works.
Pray for the protection of children from those who would corrupt them, and use and abuse them for political and socially degenerate purposes and to dominate and indoctrinate them into corruption that only leads to destruction and death.
Pray that God will raise up men and women like the prophets of old, who will preach the gospel, speak the truth in love without compromise, teach the wisdom from above unashamedly and live before men the life and light of God. Pray that evil rulers wilk, be brought low and the righteous exalted to shine as ambassadors of God Most High, the God of light and life, in every corner and place of darkness in this world until all have heard that Jesus Christ is Lord!
Love is the key, the motivation, the power, and the only way that will never fail!