Spiritual Love (10) Love Doesn't Take into Account a Wrong Suffered
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June 06, 2021 |
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 "[Love] does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered." (1 Corinthians 13:5)
Suppose two people are looking at the same situation. One thinks positively whereas another person passes judgment with a negative way of thinking. In another case suppose there is someone who thinks something bad he heard was about him although it was not he they were talking about. Then, he causes embarrassment for them. Thoughts of goodness give us peace and life, but evil thoughts result only in harm and make our lives unhappy. In addition, such thoughts have negative influences on others.
Here, the 'wrong suffered' refers to anything that is not in agreement with God's will. Then, what should we do to achieve spiritual love that doesn't take into account a wrong suffered?
1. Not to take into account a wrong suffered
1) If you want a situation to go wrong with other people, you must cast off the thought
Let's say you feel jealous of your friend who enjoys great wealth. If you think 'He is rich, but what am I? I want him to fail,' this is an evil thought. If you have spiritual love in your heart, you will never have such an evil thought.
Nobody would want his/her beloved persons to be sick or to get into an accident. You would always want your dear wife or husband to be always healthy and free of any accidents. If you want something to go wrong with others and you rejoice with other people's unhappiness, it shows that you don't have love in your heart to that extent. That's also why you want to know the iniquities or weak points of other people so you can make them known to others.
Of course, there are times and cases where you have to listen because you need to know the facts about a person's situation to stop him from going the wrong way and lead him to the way of goodness. But if it's not the case, the reason why you tend to be interested in such things is usually because you have the untruthful desire to slander and gossip about others.
Proverbs 17:9 says, "He who conceals a transgression seeks love, but he who repeats a matter separates intimate friends." Those who are good and have love in their hearts will try to cover the fault of others. Also, they will not be jealous or envious when others are well-off. Rather they will rejoice together and feel happy.
2) If you pass judgment and condemnation on others, you must cast off the thought
Suppose you saw a believer going into a place where believers shouldn't be going. Then, what kind of thoughts would you have? 'How can he do that?' You may have such a negative opinion of him. Or, you may wonder, 'Why would he go into such a place?' But then, you might change your thinking and realize that he must have a reason for it.
If you have spiritual love and have no evil in your heart, you won't have any kind of negative thoughts in the first place. Even if you heard something that's not good, until you check what really happened, you wouldn't judge anybody.
James 4:12 says, "There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and to destroy; but who are you who judge your neighbor?" Only God can pass correct judgment as Judge. If we judge others, it is evil.
Suppose someone clearly did something wrong. In this situation, to a person who has spiritual love, it is not important whether that person is right or wrong. He would just think of what is really beneficial for that person. It not only covers the transgression, but it can also help the person to be able to repent. We should love even those who have many faults, so it is natural to love those who don't have any. If you easily judge and condemn others, you need to realize you don't have spiritual love.
3) If you have a thought that is not in agreement with the will of God, you must cast it off
In the world, people who live by high moral standards and according to conscience are said to be men of goodness. But even such morality and conscience can't be the absolute standard of goodness because there are still many things that are contrary to God's Word. Only the Word of God can be the absolute standard of goodness. Things that don't belong to the Word are all evil and sins.
When one accepts the Lord, he confesses he was a sinner. He might have thought he had lived in goodness, but when he thinks in the light of God's Word he can find out many evil things in him. So he confesses he was a sinner and repents.
Here, let me explain the difference between sin and evil by comparing these two with the analogy of a tree. 'Evil' is like the root that is in the ground and is not visible and 'sin' is like the tree's branches, leaves, and fruit. Just as branches, leaves, and fruits originate from the root, 'sin' is the fruit of the root 'evil'.
Evil is a nature that is in one's heart like a root that is deep in the ground. When this evil is manifested concretely in a specific form of action or thought, it is referred to as 'sin'. Luke 6:45 says, "The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart."
Suppose a person is using foul language and hurting someone whom he hates with violence. This is when the nature of 'hatred', which is evil in his heart, is realized as 'evil words' and 'violence', which are specific sins. But not all men commit sins although they have evil in their hearts. If they are well-disciplined or they control themselves through the Word of God, the evil doesn't come out as sin. But because they still have evil in their hearts, they can't be said to become sanctified. Only when they cast off all the sinful attributes from their hearts, can they be acknowledged as sanctified men and achieve spiritual love.
God is love. Basically God's commandments can be condensed into 'love'. Thus, we need to be aware that it is evil and sin not only to hate others but also not to love. Thus, we must cast off every form of evil and love others all the more.
2. To achieve spiritual love
Above all, we must not see or hear that which is of untruth. Even if we happen to see or hear something untruthful, we should not try to remember or even think about it again. But the problem is that the thoughts of it still come to you when you try hard to get rid of them. Then, you need to pray fervently and receive the help of the Holy Spirit. Obviously, we should never intentionally think of such things or remember them. Furthermore, we should cast off even the thoughts that flash through our mind momentarily. Of course, we must not get involved in evil actions.
Men inherit sinful natures from their parents and come in contact with so many untruths in life. Based on these sinful natures and untruths, a person forms the framework of 'self.' So we need patience and efforts to cast off the sinful natures and untruths. We are more familiar with untruth than the truth, so it is relatively easier to accept untruth than to cast it off. If you passionately love somebody, you will like what that person likes and you will dislike what that person dislikes. In much the same way, we can keep the commandments and cast off every form of evil when we love God to the upmost degree.
Next, to achieve spiritual love, we must make the Word of God our 'bread of life' and offer up prayer like fire. When we meditate on the Word of God day and night, we can drive away evil thoughts and have good thoughts. Also, as we pray fervently, we can realize the evil in our thoughts, words, and deeds that we haven't noticed. We can then cast them away.
Dear brothers and sisters, spiritual love doesn't take into account a wrong suffered. I pray in the name of the Lord that you will become men of spirit who always have thoughts of goodness and act in the truth by casting away every form of evil quickly by means of the Word of God and fiery prayer.
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