“You are in error because you
don’t know the Scriptures or the power of God.” Matt. 22:29
The Bible is full of black, white and grey areas (the plumb line to a blessed LIFE here
and eternity). If we truly seek truth and the power of God, then we’re prudent
NOT to do the blacks, to DO the whites, and to use great discernment
with the greys.
The tragic flaw in society today is there is no plumb line,
everything is negotiable, and the term “love” is a cheap imitation of the real
thing. (E.g.: If we allow our child to do anything
he or she wants anytime he or she
wants, any way he or she wants, is
this real love? Some would argue yes...but
what’s evidenced in real life results?)
We propose this: If I call something that is not loving, loving, I do a disservice to my affected friend(s)… And in reality,
I’m not truly loving this other(s) at all.
Example of biblical love in action:
When Shaun and Betsy were dating, an unwed couple came to us
for advice.
They were pregnant; she wanted to abort the baby, he wanted
to keep the baby. After she left our get-together, this “manly man” was moved
to a lake of tears. In between sobs, he described himself as a Believer who had
“saved himself”… until “this once”, and now… he had a baby on the way. Then he proceeded
to explain his torment and tears:
He was “a surprise pregnancy
that was kept”, then raised alone by his teenage mom. His very life was a
miracle. …And now, his girlfriend was facing the same decision his mom did, but
his girlfriend was about to make a dreadfully different choice.
Shaun and Betsy’s response? We loved them before, and we
loved them after, but during the abortion and few days following, we could not
“love on” the girl the way she sought
to be loved on. ~She wanted us to agree with and support her decision. We could
not. But this did NOT mean that we did not love her.
Proof of genuine love? She was a bridesmaid in our wedding party, and a couple years
later, Betsy was one of her bridesmaids.
Oh may we remember, “It is not the one who commends himself who
is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.” (2Cor. 10:18) May we be continually
alert, for just as Eve was deceived (Gen. 3), our minds may too be corrupted or
led astray from the simplicity that is in Christ to “what’s politically popular”
today. (Eph. 6:18; 1Pet. 5:8; 2 Cor. 11:3).
May we be found like Daniel who although he lived and loved others amidst a pagan society, he
resolved not to defile himself with their ways or their philosophies. (Dan.
1:8) Why does this matter? Because God tells us that this is how it will be at
the end of the age when the angels come and separate the wicked from the
righteous. (Matt. 13:49)
Living for Him this crazy week. Much love, ~Shaun and Betsy
