Loving Truly

Roses are my favorite flower.  But one thing about them, as beautiful as they are, is that they always, without fail, have thorns.  I suppose they are kind of like us.  We all have a beautiful side, but also a side that is not beautiful at all.  But that ugly side is just as real as the beautiful.  Now, in Christ we are growing and being sanctified each day, thus we should see more holiness and love in each of our lives.  But that does not erase the fact that we are sinful, fallen creatures.  That is why we need the Savior.  We have a choice in dealing with each other.  Everyone likes to see the beautiful side of people, and that’s usually the side that we do see at first.  But at some point we’re going to see some not to pretty things in each other.  We will see inconsistency, lack of love, imperfect performance, sin.  Now here is where the choice comes.  We can choose to walk away because we don’t like to see those things in people.  After all, why would you put up with that when you could just go be with someone who always looks good, right?  We can just jump from one shallow relationship to another without ever having to learn to truly love people.  But that’s just not reality.  It’s not biblical.  It’s easy to love the lovely, but we all know that we aren’t always lovely.  We fail, sometimes badly.  It is in those moments when we must choose to love with Christ-like love.  Christ loved us while we were yet sinners, when we still hated Him and were completely walking in sin.  He saved us and continues to pour out His grace and love upon us, even as we fail.  If we cannot love each other like this, then what do we really know about the love of Christ?  He who has been forgiven much loves much.  If we aren’t very forgiving, maybe we should take a closer look at ourselves.  You can’t really love someone for who they are until you see their faults, their failures, their bad side.  It’s easy to love the lovely, but can we love truly?  Love is a powerful thing and can have a great influence over people.  But it is also sometimes not reciprocated.  In those times we must just continue to love as Christ loves us.  Ours is to obey, the results are up to God.  If we are to be representatives of Christ, then we must love as He loves.  We must love unconditionally.  We must love truly.  Because we are all equally in need of the unconditional, true love and grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

 “My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.”  - 1 John 3:18

 ~Brittany

2 Peter 1:5-7 Word Study

And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.

(2Pe 1:5-7)

And beside this, giving all diligence

Diligence

DILIGENCE, n. [L., to love earnestly; to choose.]

1. Steady application in business of any kind; constant effort to accomplish what is undertaken; exertion of body or mind without unnecessary delay or sloth; due attention; industry; assiduity.

add to your faith

Faith

FAITH, n. [L. fides, fido, to trust; Gr. to persuade, to draw towards any thing, to conciliate; to believe, to obey. In the Greek Lexicon of Hederic it is said, the primitive signification of the verb is to bind and draw or lead, as signifies a rope or cable. But this remark is a little incorrect. The sense of the verb, from which that of rope and binding is derived, is to strain, to draw, and thus to bind or make fast. A rope or cable is that which makes fast. Heb.]

Virtue

Virtue

VIRTUE, n. vur'tu. [L. virtus, from vireo, or its root. See Worth.] The radical sense is strength, from straining, stretching, extending. This is the primary sense of L. vir, a man.]

3. Moral goodness; the practice of moral duties and the abstaining from vice, or a conformity of life and conversation to the moral law. In this sense, virtue may be, and in many instances must be, distinguished from religion. The practice of moral duties merely from motives of convenience, or from compulsion, or from regard to reputation, is virtue, as distinct from religion. The practice of moral duties from sincere love to God and his laws, is virtue and religion. In this sense it is true,

and to virtue knowledge

Knowledge

KNOWL'EDGE, n. nol'lej.

1. A clear and certain perception of that which exists, or of truth and fact; the perception of the connection and agreement, or disagreement and repugnancy of our ideas.

We can have no knowledge of that which does not exist. God has a perfect knowledge of all his works. Human knowledge is very limited, and is mostly gained by observation and experience.

2. Learning; illumination of mind.

And to knowledge temperance

Temperance

TEM'PERANCE, n. [L. temperantia, from tempero.]

1. Moderation; particularly, habitual moderation in regard to the indulgence of the natural appetites and passions; restrained or moderate indulgence; as temperance in eating and drinking; temperance in the indulgence of joy or mirth. Temperance in eating and drinking is opposed to gluttony and drunkenness, and in other indulgences, to excess.

and to temperance patience

Patience

PATIENCE, n. pa'shens. [L. patientia, from patior, to suffer.]

1. The suffering of afflictions, pain, toil, calamity, provocation or other evil, with a calm, unruffled temper; endurance without murmuring or fretfulness. Patience may spring from constitutional fortitude, from a kind of heroic pride, or from christian submission to the divine will.

and to patience godliness

Godliness

GOD'LINESS, n. [from godly.] Piety; belief in God, and reverence for his character and laws.

1. A religious life; a careful observance of the laws of God and performance of religious duties, proceeding from love and reverence for the divine character and commands; christian obedience.

And to godliness brotherly kindness

Brotherly

BROTH'ERLY, a. Pertaining to brothers; such as is natural for brothers; becoming brothers; kind; affectionate; as brotherly love.

Kindness

KINDNESS, n. [from kind, the adjective.]

1. Good will; benevolence; that temper or disposition which delights in contributing to the happiness of others, which is exercised cheerfully in gratifying their wishes, supplying their wants or alleviating their distresses; benignity of nature. Kindness ever accompanies love.

and to brotherly kindness charity

Charity

CHARITY, n.

1. In a general sense, love, benevolence, good will; that disposition of heart which inclines men to think favorably of their fellow men to think favorably of their fellow men, and to do them good. In a theological sense, it includes supreme love to God, and universal good will to men.

1 Cor 8. Col 3. 1 Tim 1.

2. In a more particular sense, love, kindness, affection, tenderness, springing from natural relations; as the charities of father, son and brother.

 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.

(2Pe 1:5-7) ESV