The Morning Star Rising on the First Day
The Morning Star Rising on the First Day
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Christian Love Thinks No Evil
Today we present yet another of the selfless actions of Jesus as an example of Christian love. We previously introduced the subject “Love Thinks No Evil” in our post entitled (What-is-Christian-Love). In this posting we addressed Paul’s dissertation on the subject of love, originated in the First Letter to the Corinthians.
Christian love does not contemplate doing evil because it is focused on blessing others, not in self interests. Let me explain. The Ten Commandments summarize God’s law concerning what is good and what is evil.
Moses and the Ten Comandments
If we look at each of the Ten Commandments, we find that each commandment addresses some form of self absorption. Let’s look at some of the commandments to demonstrate this point.
Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God is giving you. (Exodus 20:12)
This is an excellent example of the point made above. It is evil to dishonor parents because by doing so we reveal that our personal interests are more important than those of the people who loved, nurtured and cared for us through our childhood.
You shall not murder. (Exodus 20:13)
He who murders has placed their interests above those of the person being murdered and of his family. This of course would not apply in cases of self defense or accidental killing.
You shall not commit adultery. (Exodus 20:14)
He who commits adultery is focused on the gratification of their own flesh more than they do their spouse.
You shall not steal. (Exodus 20:15)
In a like manner, He who steals is focused on self gain over the welfare of those from who they stole. This is the opposite of providing blessings to others.
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. (Exodus 20:16)
He who bears false witness does so for personal gain and therefore is not concerned with the harm they do to others.
In addressing the other commandments I have the following comments: He who does not keep the Sabbath day holy by giving one day in seven to the Lord is spending that time on self interests instead. In addition, he who makes false gods to worship (these could include money, power, cars, women, etc.) is focused on self because what they have created is more important than focusing on the one true living God.
In summary, by looking at the Ten Commandments we find that they all deal with self adsorption or placing ourselves before others and before God. Love does not contemplate doing these evil things but rather contemplates blessing others with goodness.
Jesus provides us with an example when He chose to do the will of His loving Father rather than accept the offer of the entire world in a moment in time from the devil. He refused the offer of self indulgence in the flesh and instead chose to love by blessing His Father with obedience. Here is the scripture:
Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said to Him, All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours. And Jesus answered and said to him, “Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.’“ (Luke 4:5 – 8)
Jesus Tempted in the Wilderness by the Devil
There was no desire in Jesus for even the entire world in a moment in time. He did not entertain the evil in this proposition but rather rejected the repulsive message from Satan. He rejected evil and focused on good. He did this throughout His ministry. Even on the cross there was no thought of retaliation but rather our welfare was on his mind. Want proof? Read on:
Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His mother, “Woman, behold your son!” Then He said to the disciple, “Behold your mother!” And from that hour that disciple took her to his own home. (John 19:25 – 27)
The Crucifixion of Jesus
You see, Jesus did not think about Himself, He though about the welfare of those around Him. He thought of the welfare of all of mankind by being obedient to the Father and going to the cross. He thought about all of us, even you and me. Oh sweet Jesus, how can we help but to love you.
All of this leaves us with quite a bit of self examination to do. I recommend that you go back through each of the examples above and ask yourself if your have acted out of true love in each case. If you have fallen short of the mark then ask Jesus for forgiveness and the Holy Spirit for help in guiding you toward living a perfectly loving life.
The purpose of these publications on the topic of love is to assist anyone who is seeking to become more like their savior Jesus Christ. Our approach is to communicate that the life and words of Jesus are the perfect model of what we hope to become. Our expectation is that the reader will contrast the words and actions of Jesus to their own to discover where they fall short of the perfect love. Once any shortcomings are identified then the reader can seek the assistance of the Holy Spirit to help them in moving closer to the perfection of the examples that Jesus left us.
We recommended that every person in ministry reflect upon their worthiness to serve by first studying these examples of Christian love.
We have presented a number of posting that address the principles of Christian Love. Each of them is reinforced by examples taken from the life and words of Jesus. The following list of hyperlinks is provided to help those interested in reading these other postings. Clicking on any of the links below will transfer you to the posting of your choice:
Christian-Love-Does-Not-Parade-Itself
Christian-Love-is-Not-Puffed-Up
Christian-Love-Does-Not-Behave-Rudely
Christian-Love-Does-Not-Seek-Its-Own
Christian-Love-is-Not-Provoked
Christian-Love-Bears-All-Things
Christian-Love-Believes-All-Things
Christian-Love-Hopes-All-Things
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