{"id":74154,"date":"2022-07-26T14:06:34","date_gmt":"2022-07-26T20:06:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/?p=74154"},"modified":"2022-07-26T14:06:34","modified_gmt":"2022-07-26T20:06:34","slug":"do-everything-in-love","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/do-everything-in-love\/","title":{"rendered":"Do Everything in Love"},"content":{"rendered":"

Do Everything in Love<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

January 19, 2022<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0in\u00a0<\/em>Man in the Mirror Blog<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Amid mistreatment, Paul showed love to the Corinthians and told them to do everything in love. How? In this current era where the \u201cclap back\u201d reigns supreme, one principle can radically change our response to offense, conflict, and anger.<\/p>\n

By Patrick Morley\u00a0<\/strong>
\nMIM Founder & Executive Chairman<\/strong>
\nWinter Park, Florida<\/strong><\/p>\n

Author, theologian, and philosopher G. K. Chesterton said that the New York Times sent out a letter to several famous authors asking them to answer the question, \u201cWhat\u2019s wrong with the world?\u201d It\u2019s reported that Chesterton wrote back, \u201cDear sirs, I am. Respectfully yours, G. K. Chesterton.\u201d<\/p>\n

What\u2019s Wrong with the World?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Corinth was an international city of great commerce and prosperity. There was a lively sports and entertainment scene that attracted visitors from all over. But there was also a lot of arrogance, division, sexual immorality, and other moral decadence.<\/p>\n

The city of Corinth was not unlike most cities in most places in most countries in most centuries, because the root issues in the world\u2014although the presenting problems may change from generation to generation\u2014are pretty much the same everywhere. Sin today is not radically different than it was 100 years ago, 500 years ago, or 2000 years ago, because the natural state of the human heart remains unchanged.<\/p>\n

In Corinth, Paul found that the Christian community there had assimilated some of what was going on in the culture\u2014including widespread division, anger, and finger pointing.<\/p>\n

Paul\u2019s Prescription<\/strong>
\nWhen Paul arrives in the city, he\u2019s not in a very good place. He\u2019d basically been brutalized in Athens before making his way there by boat. He observes all that\u2019s going on in the church there, as well as his own situation, and he writes, \u201cTo this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless\u201d (1 Cor. 4:11<\/a>).<\/p>\n

In essence, Paul, a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ, is being treated like dirt even among his fellow believers in Corinth. Against this backdrop of mistreatment and feeling down, he writes his first letter to the Corinthians, taking time to carefully address the problems he sees and answer their questions.<\/p>\n

He then closes the letter with a warm, final greeting: \u201cMy love to all of you in Christ Jesus. Amen\u201d (1 Cor. 16:24<\/a>). As abused as Paul had been, his response was,\u00a0I don\u2019t need them to love me in order for me to love them<\/em>. And he wants the church to have that response as well.<\/p>\n

The last substantive instruction that Paul gives them is found in\u00a01 Corinthians 16:14<\/a>: \u201cDo everything in love.\u201d In effect, Paul is saying, \u201cLook, you left me in rags, homeless, hungry, and thirsty. You guys are all mixed up, and the culture is seeping into your lives, taking you away from the truth. But I love you. And I don\u2019t need you to love me. I love you. You, too, should do everything in love.\u201d<\/p>\n

What Kind of Love?<\/strong>
\nIn what\u00a0kind\u00a0<\/em>of love should we strive to do everything? Here are five characteristics of love to cultivate when it comes to how we treat people. It\u2019s love that is agape, truthful, forgiving, humble, and faithful.<\/p>\n

1. Agape<\/strong>
\nAgape love is the love with which God loves us and tells us to love others. Paul writes that he is nothing without it, even if he sacrifices, gives of his resources, or prophecies. Drink this in, as Paul describes agape love (1 Cor. 13:4-8a<\/a>): Love is patient,\u00a0love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking,\u00a0it is not easily angered,\u00a0it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil\u00a0but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.<\/p>\n

2. Truthful<\/strong>
\nWhen Paul says to do everything in love, he doesn\u2019t mean we should wink at or ignore sin in the name of love. When someone hurts you, love doesn\u2019t mean pretending it didn\u2019t happen.<\/p>\n

My tendency, for example, is to be an overlooker. At times, I believe we are called to be an overlooker;\u00a0Proverbs 19:11<\/a>\u00a0says, \u201cA person\u2019s wisdom yields patience; it is to one\u2019s glory to overlook an offense.\u201d But overlooking a person cutting you off in traffic isn\u2019t the same as overlooking a major offense that causes harm.<\/p>\n

In\u00a0Ephesians 4:14-15<\/a>, Paul talks about \u201cspeaking the truth in love\u201d so that we will grow to become, in every respect, the mature body of him who\u2019s the head, that is Christ. Love is truthful enough to address something that needs addressed.<\/p>\n

Since I\u2019ve started meditating on the verse, \u201cDo everything in love,\u201d I\u2019ve stopped being a chronic overlooker. I can tell the truth, but without anger or spite. Rather, I can summon up the courage to call something out in truth and in love. In the face of conflict, my framework has switched from trying to exercise self-control in a strong will to operating out of love.<\/p>\n

3. Forgiving<\/strong>
\nRight after the Lord\u2019s prayer, Jesus taught, \u201cFor if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins\u201d (Matthew 6:14-15<\/a>).<\/p>\n

If we are to do everything in love, then love must certainly be forgiving.<\/p>\n

4. Humble<\/strong>
\nJust like in Corinth, there is so much pride and arrogance in the world around us\u2014and\u00a0within us, if we aren\u2019t watchful.<\/a><\/p>\n

Jesus told a parable to some people who thought they were righteous and better than others. He talked about a Pharisee who went to worship God and said, \u201cGod, I\u2019m thankful that I\u2019m not like all those other people. And I do these good deeds and those good deeds, and I\u2019m sure glad I\u2019m not like them.\u201d And then a second man came\u2014a tax collector\u2014and he didn\u2019t even look up at God. He was so humbled by Him. All he could say was, \u201cLord, have mercy on me, a sinner.\u201d<\/p>\n

And Jesus tells them that the tax collector was the one who went home justified before God. He said, \u201cFor all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted\u201d (Luke 18:14b<\/a>).<\/p>\n

The way we come before God\u00a0and<\/em>\u00a0the way we come before other people should be marked by humility.<\/p>\n

5. Faithful<\/strong>
\nProverbs 20:6<\/a>\u00a0says, \u201cMany claim to have unfailing love, but a faithful person who can find?\u201d<\/p>\n

Being faithful\u2014to God, to the commitments you make, to your vows, to others in the body of Christ\u2014is a hallmark of love.<\/p>\n

A New Foundation<\/strong>
\nOver the last several years, I\u2019ve noticed my heart has felt so bruised by the meanness and vitriol that people spew out to each other on a regular basis. Then when I was reading my Bible one day weeks ago, I came across, \u201cDo everything in love.\u201d I\u2019d read the verse many times before, but at that moment, I felt like I had 10,000 gigawatts of electricity go through my body. It just struck me anew: do everything in love.<\/p>\n

As I\u2019ve meditated on it since, I have found myself changing in profound ways\u2014how I react, think, and view circumstances and people. The truth is that all of us are frail, finite, and feeble. We are human. And humans offend, misstep, and hurt.<\/p>\n

Is it acceptable then for us to show love only to those whom we have an easy affection for and who love us in return? It\u2019s certainly natural.<\/p>\n

In\u00a0Matthew 5:46-47<\/a>, Jesus answered this question: \u201cIf you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?\u201d<\/p>\n

In the name of Jesus, we can humbly interact, speak the truth in love, forgive one another, and choose to faithfully love\u2014even those who don\u2019t love us.<\/p>\n

THE BIG IDEA:\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>I don\u2019t need you to love me for me to love you.<\/em><\/p>\n

Do Everything in Love?<\/strong>
\nIf you\u2019re in Christ, I believe that when Paul says to do everything in love, he isn\u2019t speaking in generalizations. I think he means\u00a0everything<\/em>, with no exceptions.<\/p>\n

It doesn\u2019t mean you can\u2019t and won\u2019t get angry. Anger is a natural human emotion. But it means that when you get angry, what you do next matters. I do feel anger. I do get irritable. But it\u2019s what I do next that determines whether I\u2019m acting from a place of love or out of some other emotion.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve been struggling with anger, irritability, bitterness, criticalness, self-righteousness, or anything else that is making it hard to love people, I recognize it can be difficult to overcome. Jesus said our spirits are willing to do this, but our flesh is weak (Matthew 26:41b<\/a>).<\/p>\n

But He wants to empower you to lay a new foundation for how you treat people. Let\u2019s begin the reset of our lives together with a prayer, expressing our desire to God:<\/p>\n

Our dearest Father, we do see the world for what it is. We see that the world has gained a grip on us, and Lord, we don\u2019t want to react the way that we\u2019ve been reacting. I repent of all the ways in which I have acted like the world, and I repent of all the times I have beaten my breast in self-righteousness that I\u2019m not like the world. Have mercy on us. We are sinners.<\/em><\/p>\n

God, put into our hearts the desire to follow this overarching instruction to do everything in love. Whatever other foundation we\u2019ve been building on, we ask you to rip that up and re-pour love as our foundation, by the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.<\/em><\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 1986-2020\u00a0Man in the Mirror<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Do Everything in Love January 19, 2022\u00a0in\u00a0Man in the Mirror Blog Amid mistreatment, Paul showed love to the Corinthians and told them to do everything in love. How? In this current era where the \u201cclap back\u201d reigns supreme, one principle can radically change our response to offense, conflict, and anger. By Patrick Morley\u00a0 MIM Founder <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":74155,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3380,4661],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-74154","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","category-leadership-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74154","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=74154"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74154\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/74155"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74154"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=74154"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=74154"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}