Have
you ever known parents who claimed that they loved their children too
much to spank them? Ever known someone who tried to justify having sex
outside of marriage because they loved the person? Ever known a
Christian who would not rebuke and correct religious error because they
loved others too much to hurt their feelings in this way? I submit that
in each of these cases, love is being blamed for something that it has
nothing to do with.
The
Bible plainly teaches that love motivates us to do exactly the opposite
of what was described in each of the preceding examples.
Love
will cause us to discipline our children. "He who spares his rod hates
his son, But he who loves him disciplines him promptly"
(Proverbs 13:24).
Love
demands that we abstain from sexual immorality. If we love someone, we
are not going to participate with them in an act that will condemn their
soul! If we do, we are being selfish, not loving. In
Ephesians 5:2-3,
God's word explains that walking in love involves avoiding fornication:
"And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us,
an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma. But
fornication . . . let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for
saints" (Ephesians
5:2-3).
Love
will move of us to rebuke sin and correct error. Love will not allow us
to stand idly by and watch those we care about lose their souls by
committing sin or believing doctrinal error.
Jesus said, "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten"
(Revelation 3:19). The
apostle Paul had strongly rebuked the Corinthians. In
2 Corinthians 2:4
he explains why: "For out of much affliction and anguish of heart
I wrote to you, with many tears, not that you should be grieved, but
that you might know the love which I have so abundantly for you."
The
right kind of love will never cause us to do the wrong kind of
thing. Love "does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth"
(1 Corinthians
13:6). Real love will never be used to justify sin; rather, it
will be used to help us identify what is what is right and good. The
Lord's will is "that your love may abound still more and more in
knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are
excellent"
(Philippians 1:9-10).
Love
always seeks the most lasting good for the one who is being
loved. Momentary pain or pleasure is not love's greatest concern. Love
is focused on the eternal welfare of the one who is loved. "My little
children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in
truth." (1 John
3:18)
Other Articles
Legalism -- The Un-Sin
Winning Last Place
How Men Act When They Repent
Hairpin Curves