Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth....1 Corinthians 13: 6 (NIV)

I Corinthians 13 is a popular chapter, referred to us the Love chapter, and is frequently read at weddings.  I have thought of it as revealing what Love looks like, but verse 6 makes me stop and get a real glimpse of what Love does not look like...

1 Corinthians 13: 6
                      (NIV):     Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
              (NRSV):   It does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth.

Chapter 13 opens telling us that without Love, we are nothing more than noisy gongs or clanging cymbals (vs. 1) and if we are truly to be followers of Christ, Love must be the ingredient that binds us with Him and is the evidence of that relationship.

As I read verse 6, it hit me that I do delight in evil and rejoice in wrong doing every time I participate in rumor, slander, or just seek to listen to those who agree with me in conflicts or political views.  While I watch TV, I am steered toward news reports that announce crimes, wrongdoings of others, sensational events of how evil people can be.  The TV stations don't get my attention by showing goodness, they get my attention by advertising evil, and I look forward to hearing all about it. 

If I am really honest with myself, I do delight in the downfall or exposure of evil and wrongdoings of people I disagree with.  With that truthful confession I must acknowledge that I do not have the Love of Christ within me, because His Love is not measured in increments...it either exists in its purity or does not.

I will take my encouragement from the last words of verse 6...I will rejoice in truth.  The truth in all situations is that God is in control and His love will defeat evil.  His righteousness overcomes all the wrong that we are exposed to throughout the day, so I will seek and hang on to His promises and grace.  I choose to focus on Jesus and let Him be my delight and not the evil which the world is trying to lure me with.

The Four Spiritual Laws

As I was preparing for a discussion a couple weeks ago, I came across the Bill Bright's Four Spiritual Laws which were introduced in 1952 as part of the Campus Crusade for Christ program.  These Spiritual Laws or truths spoke to me and aligned with Christ's working in me regarding the word "Receive" .  Over the last month I have been reminded over and over that I am to receive from God and these laws are truths which I need to receive and share with others.

The Four Spiritual Laws are:

1. God loves you and offers a wonderful plan for your life. (John 3:16, John 10:10)
2. Man is sinful and separated from God. Therefore, he cannot know and experience God's love and plan for his life. (Romans 3:23, Romans 6:23)
3. Jesus Christ is God's only provision for man's sin. Through Him you can know and experience God's love and plan for your life. (Romans 5:8,I Corinthians 15:3-6, John 14:6)
4. We must individually receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord; then we can know and experience God's love and plan for our lives. (John 1:12, Ephesians 2:8,9, John 3:1~8, Revelation 3:20)

God's love and plan for us is a gift which He wants us to experience and enjoy as we walk each day in this crazy, confused world.  God gives us this gift in Jesus Christ and when we turn to Christ and invite Him into our hearts, God's love and His plan is available and calling us to Him.  Jesus is God's gift which we must receive or we will never experience our Father's love and never live the plan He desires for us.

Sin is the alternative to Jesus.  If we choose to live a life which is contrary to God's plan, a life of sin, we will never experience His love and the joy and peace that He desires for us.  Jesus came to overcome sin and to offer Himself as a sacrifice for us so that we do not have to experience the separation from God's love and a life of being lost and without purpose.

Every day, we need to receive the truth that God loves us and has a plan for us, which He reveals through His Spirit, abiding in us when we receive Jesus as our Lord.

The Gospel Message...Receive It

1 Corinthians 15:3-4 (NIV)

³ For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, ⁴ that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures

 

The  Gospel Message, the message of God's grace and love through Jesus, is a message that must be received, not just heard.  The Holy Spirit breathes the Truth into our hearts and it becomes our strength and sustenance of life. We cannot proclaim the Kingdom of God, the Gospel Message, unless we have received it.  As a friend told me last week, it would be like sharing a drink of water from an empty glass.

 

Jesus calls us to be His witnesses, sent into the world to proclaim the message of His Grace,  and we cannot do that if it has not taken root in us.  God doesn't want us to just parrot the words, but to live the message of Grace.  When we have received Christ as our Lord & Savior, we have received His Spirit, which lives within us to share the Truth in our own lives and as evidence for others. 

 

Bill Bright introduced The Four Spiritual Laws in 1952.  These laws reveal the laws, or truths, that govern man's relationship with God.  These are truths that we must embrace as we live in relationship with God and the truths for others to acknowledge as they seek His love and receive the gift of salvation.

1. God loves you and offers a wonderful plan for your life.
2. Man is sinful and separated from God. Therefore, he cannot know and experience God's love and plan for his life.
3. Jesus Christ is God's only provision for man's sin. Through Him you can know and experience God's love and plan for your life.
4. We must individually receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord: then we can know and experience God's love and plan for our lives.

The Holy Spirit delivers these truths to us individually so that we can be "children of God" (Romans 8:14) and they are our talking points as we witness to others.