Tigger56 Posted November 9, 2020 Group: Diamond Member Followers: 3 Topic Count: 679 Topics Per Day: 0.36 Content Count: 1,327 Content Per Day: 0.71 Reputation: 992 Days Won: 0 Joined: 03/04/2019 Status: Offline Share Posted November 9, 2020 God is love and Christians should be loving and should follow the pattern of love, that being to love the Lord God and the Lord Jesus first and most and then their spouses and all others. I also know there are levels of love. Though I love the stranger it is not the same depth of love as I have for family. This is natural for love grows with familiarity, just as my love continually grows for the Lord as I continue to grow in knowledge of his ways. But I have seen both Christians and those that are not Christians show a misunderstanding of John 13:35. "By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love one to another." That is a good and true statement. However, it is misused by some to imply that if you disagree then you are unloving. For example if you have love for a family member but they are living in open sin. Then you continue to love them but that love did not embrace the sin or action or in anyway condone their behavior. So we love them but do not agree with their choices. Love does not imply acceptance of what goes against the pure love that is God. The very standard of love must be God for He is love. But in his great love God does not love or condone wrong, evil, wickedness or sin. He loves but does not accept these things. God cannot go against who He is. God doesn't choose to love or to be good, God doesn't make the choice for that is who He is, He is love and good and cannot go against who He is. A Christian has to make the choice but the choice of love does not incorporate automatic acceptance and it also does not incorporate compromising with muted light or evil. Our love must be based upon the love that is suppose to be first and greatest, which is the love of God which embraces all attributes and laws of the Lord. Many will quote John 13:35 but conveniently leave out John 14:15, "If you love me, keep my commandments." These verses though written in separate chapters are from the same Lord and are not separate from who the Lord is. Love is the greatest attribute and greatest testimony of a Christian. But it is the love of God, the love of the law, the love of what is good, just and holy, and the love of others. The love of others is only one of the attributes of a Christian not the only attribute. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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