The Real God Like Love

I heard a rabbi recently explain that the Hebrew word for love means two things:
1. an action word for giving and 2. an action word for withholding.

The American culture does not understand the second action of love. We have been taught to allow everyone to have whatever they want while believing anything they want, and that is love.

Unfortunately we have the society we have today, because we did not understand love, when to withhold and when to give. We also misunderstood love to be praising one another no matter what our choices.

We have also misunderstood love to be merely what we say to people, "love ya", without any action to prove it. Words are empty when not accompanied by God's kind of love in action.

Love is determining to give what is good for the person, not necessarily what they want.

Love is often a spanking to show the seriousness of sin in one's life. Love can be putting up with small offenses to heap hot coals of kindness. It can be giving someone what they don't need to show kindness, however it can also be withholding what they need so they will learn to work.

Love is telling the truth even if it hurts, to bring the sinning brother or sister back in line with God's principles.

Love never demeans in order to elevate self. Love is SELFLESS!

When we withhold the truth to make others feel good about themselves, we are really loving only our self, the motive is often to be liked rather than to honor God with truth. We feel bad when others are unhappy, but our motivation is often more about relieving the pressure of pain than what the pain can reveal, therefore cleansing.

1 John 1:9 "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

When we feel convicted over sin, we feel bad, but the cleansing that comes from confessing with the desire for change, brings great joy. We rob others of the joy of cleansing and a changed life when we pretend there is no sin by dismissing it through our silence, or giving them excuses for their sin.

1 Corinthians 13:1-13
"1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.
2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned,[a] but have not love, it profits me nothing.
4 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up;
5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil;
6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth;
7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8 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.
9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part.
10 But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away.
11 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.
12 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.
13 And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love"

The key to all this, is being able to hear the Holy Spirit as to what is needed and when it is needed. God looks into the heart and can see the need of each person, but the best we have is a guess based on what our culture has taught us.

We must read the Word, know the heart of God and seek the Holy Spirit for each situation to know the right things to do. I no longer listen to the advice of most people in our culture when it comes to love, far too many people have been indoctrinated with the worldly psychological love, to know the heart of God, not to mention their ignorance of the Word of God to make good judgments or have discernment.

Christ knows, lets ask Him!