A few days ago my friend Laurie posted another one of her excellent series on the puritan Jonathan Edwards' "Charity and its Fruits"
http://lauriemo.blogspot.com/search/label/Edwards - I read her post, not having any idea how the contents were going to grab me. Gordon and I have shared quite a bit together and listened to a sermon on love from the "Desiring God" website while doing Friday evening pottering.
NO LOVE NO GAIN
1 Corinthians 13:3 “If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.”
Paul uses extreme and radical examples: it is possible to go as far as giving away all you have and giving up your body to the flames – and, yet: not have a shred of love in your heart.
WHAT IS THIS LOVE?
This raises the question of what this love is if one could sacrifice all his possessions and even his life and still not have it
- Love seeks to reward others and build them up for their good.
- Love does not use others for its own ends; it delights to be a means to their welfare.(1 Corinthians 8:1; Romans 14:15; Ephesians 4:16; Romans 13:10).
- 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 - not only for weddings!
- Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.
and
- "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets." Matthew 22: 37-40.
MOTIVATIONS, MOTIVATIONS, MOTIVATIONS
My friend Laurie writes: . Our actions are seen by God entirely and only in relation to our motives.
This leads to self-check questions such as: is my giving driven by love or by, pride, guilt, envy and self-love such as reputation, honour, fame and recognition.
Soldiers who sacrifice their lives and time in war,could be motivated by national pride. The Muslim suicide bomber is driven by religious convictions. Examples abound of giving that is firmly rooted in humanitarianism rather than in love for God Himself. Some of the richest men in the world are atheist-celebs who give vast sums of money to charities.
Many people have gone to great lengths in sacrificing their lives without a trace of sincere love in their hearts for God or for people. Some give to get. Some sacrifice for fame, for fear of repercussions, motivated by personal pride, and people’s praise. Some undertake voluntary afflictions, exhausting pilgrimages, and extensive times of solidarity. Others land in prison for political reasons –sacrificing years of their lives without a single thought of God or any love in their hearts for Him. There are those who have given their lives in explorations and experimentations and in the name of space research – and what did God see when He looked into their hearts?
No matter how extreme or admirable, no sacrifice can ever make up for genuine heart-love. All the acts of justice, multiple prayers and fasts, phenomenal sums of hard cash giving to worthy causes, undergoing the cruellest of sufferings – without love for God and people – are, plain and simple: without gain. I may even be tortured, tormented mangled and burned – but if I withhold my love from God and people– these sacrifices have zero value. And if I pretend to love God and put on a show – every one of my minor or major sacrifices mock, insult and taunt the Lord of the Universe! My falsehood shows me up as a two-faced hypocrite and, to put it bluntly, a liar.
I either give or sacrifice out of love for God and people – or I give to get and sacrifice out of love for myself. If I am driven by my own honour, ego or gain, and by how good these offerings make me feel and look, then I am giving to myself. Therefore, there is no love in me for God and others. I only have eyes for me, myself and I!
The eternal value of my giving and sacrifices are measured by my heart. Am I motivated by eager, enthusiastic and genuine love for God and people? Heartless robotic - biddy-biddy - acts of giving and sacrifice produces no gain. An act does not qualify as love unless it involves right motives
None of these external sacrifices have, in and of themselves, any value to God. There are no ways that the God who is all-sufficient in Himself, needs my money or martyrdom.
WHAT IS GOD LOOKING FOR?
Our all-seeing God looks into our hearts and desires to there see our genuine first love for Him.
For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice,
the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
Hosea 6:6
Oh!!
I am just completely bowled over by the wonder of God taking pleasure in our love for Him and for people. What grace that He desires my steadfast love. How can I even contemplate withholding my love from the One who so graciously and unbelievably takes pleasure to be loved by me. How can it be that He takes great delight in my heart totally belonging to Him!? What grace is this!!!! What God is this that wants my first love and undivided heart/!
What is going on in this heart of mine?
I end this entry with a prayer, a perfect example of giving with love and the rewards of love.
PRAYER
I repent of my cold heart and pray:
“May the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all men” (1 Thessalonians 3:12; Philippians 1:9).
THE PERFECT GIVING WITH LOVE
Jesus said, "Greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends," (John 15:13).
THE REWARDS/RESULTS/BENEFITS OF REAL LOVE
“All things work together for good for those who love God” (Romans 8:28).
“No eye has seen nor ear heard … what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9; cf. Ephesians 6:24).
“If one loves God, he is known by God” (1 Corinthians 8:3).
“God has promised a crown of life to those who love him” (James 1:12; 3:5; cf. 2 Timothy 4:8).
If I need correction, please pass it on - or any added thoughts.
