Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Another Facet of Genuine Love

The city of Corinth was located in the modern-day country of Greece. It was the most populated city in all of the land, and a very busy seaport. Paul had planted a church there, mostly made up of gentiles, on his second journey during his ministry. They were surrounded by idolotry and corruption. Their mythology was so imbedded in the culture that the new church members became confused and chameleon-like in their conduct within the structure of the church, as well as without. The pressure to conform to worldy behavior had overtaken them, so when Paul heard of their struggles, he wrote a letter, and today we refer to this as the first epistle to the Corinthians.

Over sixteen chapters, the Lord used Paul to explain a moral code that should be followed within the fellowship of the new believers. He corrected problems and answered questions. He reminded them of the simple Gospel message that they had embraced before. He taught them concerning worship, law suits, and spiritual gifts. Paul boldly confronted the Corinthians about their sins and shortcomings.

Throughout, genuine love is interlaced among the instructions Paul has for the young church. He conveys this thought even when he must discipline and rebuke. Then, with plain words he details the conduct of genuine love. He writes that love is never glad about wrong behavior, but rejoices when the truth wins out. Genuine love causes us to want to stand up for what is right and to rejoice with those that have the courage to do so. However, genuine love does not lord it over those that do not have that same grace quite yet.

It is true that mercy must go hand in hand with truth and justice. This is what Paul conveyed to the Christians in Corinth. He knew that they were young, that they had a long way to go in their walk with the Lord, and that with training they would learn.

Proverbs 3:3, "Let not mercy and truth forsake you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart, and so find favor and high esteem in the sight of God and man."

Micah 6:8, "He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?"

Genuine love requires that each of us has a heart of mercy. The Lord has shown great mercy to us because He came to die on the cross in our place. He had compassion because we were like sheep without a shepherd.

We are like the Corinthians in many ways. We need correction along the way, but we also need mercy and compassion. We also must learn to give mercy and compassion.

Lord, it may take us a while to learn the scope of genuine love. Continue to give us the grace as we surrender ourselves to you. Teach us to love by loving through us. Amen.

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