When we know Christ is in control of this world, and the end times prophesy as given to us by God in the Bible, nothing surprises us. The only thing that makes us sit up and take notice is that we are in the generation when all the prophetic events are being fulfilled.
Why do I see the missing love as the most dramatic, even with all the world events going on? The reason is very simple, the absence of love affects our lives every single day.
Either we are living a fantasy or days gone by had far more kindness, politeness and love it them than we see today. Many had hard childhoods, but the culture as a whole seemed more caring and giving than in our generation and our children's generation.
2 Timothy 3:1-9
"3 But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come.
2 For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy,
3 unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good,
4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
5 holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these.
6 For among them are those who enter into households and captivate weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses,
7 always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
8 Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men of depraved mind, rejected in regard to the faith.
9 But they will not make further progress; for their folly will be obvious to all, just as Jannes’s and Jambres’s folly was also."
I have known people over the years who had much knowledge about God in their heads, but little to no love in their hearts. These people live to appear special, above others, loving praise and adulation but deeply angry when someone points out a flaw in them.
The loving humble person hates that they have a flaw, desiring to fix it and move on toward holiness. The narcissist only hates that someone points out a flaw in them. There is no desire to improve, only the desire to appear perfect, without flaws entirely.
Newsflash: "no one is perfect", as the car insurance commercial says. When we know we are not perfect we quickly apologize when we so much as bump into someone at the store. The narcissist never apologizes, everything is someone else's fault.
If the narcissist isn't watching where they are going and bumps into someone, they will blame the one they bumped into for being "in the way." Or they will ignore that they bumped into them without a word, never an apology or a word to make the person feel loved.
This is the world we live in, know it, admit it and go on to obey Christ no matter what anyone else is doing.
John 13:34-35
"34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
What does love look like? Love never diminishes another person in favor of elevated status.
1 Corinthians 13:4-8
"4 Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant,
5 does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered,
6 does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth;
7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."
The love is missing in the world as a whole, even in the church gatherings, however, it does not have to be missing in us. Narcissists will even mock us for doing good, attempting to make us feel stupid for doing it. Ignore the silliness of the narcissist, as we continue to obey God, doing what is right in His eyes.
Refuse to be intimidated by the silly narcissists. When we see their tactics to demean, mock and diminish us, do a little laughing under the breath, knowing it is just the devil using them to intimidate us into silence and inaction.
The more we know of their tactics and foolishness, the less we are impacted by them.
Another bit of advice, choose not to NEED the narcissist. When we "need" anyone, we are placing our emotions and convictions in their hands. We can love others, but we should need only Christ.
Our life should not be dependent on the approval of someone other than Christ. Narcissists love to keep us in bondage to them, that's why they play games to draw us in to reject us later. When we don't need them, they have no power to draw us back in, while we have the power to walk away, even joyful that we can do so.
Love the narcissist from afar through prayer for them. God can do better than we in reaching a stubborn and self glorified human being who continually causes trouble in the lives of their targets.
The narcissist will attempt to control us through our emotions, they will lie against us, make up stories to others about us to win others to their lies. All the apostles and Christ Himself endured these kind of people and some were the religious leaders of His day.
Praise the Lord we are free! The Spirit in us should be the One controlling us, that Spirit is Jesus Christ the crucified One, the One Who died for us, only He should have the preeminence.
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