The Love Doctor 14: Love rejoices in truth

For many, many years I was lost.  I was headed to hell in gasoline soaked underwear.  But the worst thing about my pitiful condition was that the Christians in my life knew it; and no one said anything at all. 

Friends, I can thank a merciful God for reaching in and pulling me out of the murky waters of unrepentant sin.  God allowed me to dig a hole so deep that I had no other choice but to turn to Him.  And when I learned the truth, I did rejoice.  When I learned how wicked my own heart was, I praised God for that knowledge.  Read Jeremiah 17:9

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

What the weeping prophet is telling us here is that our desires speak lies to us above all things.  The things we gravitate toward are wicked hateful things.  Brothers and Sisters, that verse set me free.  That verse spoke to me like John 3:16 speaks to many other believers.  That verse told me to take whatever I wanted and hold up against the truth, which is the word of God, and see if they match.  When I understood that, it was like seeing for the first time.  I was able to truly rejoice in the truth. 

You see before I understood that verse I was like that boat lost at sea, being tossed about according to the weather.  I said and did whatever I felt like doing.  I believed that horrible lie the culture tells us.  Our flawed system tells us to do what feels right.  The culture told me that God put the desires I had in my heart so they couldn't be wrong.  When the spirit revealed to me the truth in that verse, I became stable.  My walk began to straighten out.  My thoughts became crystal clear, because I understood that I could not trust what was in my heart, and I must depend on the word of God to guide me. 

Friends, I said all that to get to my real point.  You cannot love fully until you love in the truth.  You cannot love in truth until you know the truth.  Let's look at our text:

4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.



When we love with an agape love, we find joy when others experience the truth.  We rejoice when the Holy Spirit reveals the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ to a lost soul and that new name is entered into the book of life.  We almost hear the angels sing when that brave soul takes the long walk down the aisle at church to begin the process of salvation. 

Brothers and sisters when we really rejoice in truth we do not remain silent when others around us do not know the truth.  You cannot really know the gospel and not want to share it.  How much do you have to hate someone to not share the gospel (some of you will get that later).  C.S. Lewis wrote (and I'm paraphrasing here) that there is a kind of joy that produces a seriousness or sense of purpose.  That joy wants us all to be saved, so we can all rejoice in the truth.

Love rejoices in the truth! 

The Love Doctor 13: Love does not delight in evil

My youngest son is 6.  He is, like my oldest, a delightful young man.  The little one is a bit more bouncy and  much more talkative than the big one.  He tends also to have a very tender heart, and an inflated sense of himself which makes for a very interesting combination. 

One day, while playing T-ball he was going to try to catch the ball, and he fell down in the process, missing the ball altogether.  The manner in which he did it, his body position, facial expression, and woeful misjudgement of where the ball would be was comical---as younger children playing anything can sometimes be.  Well, Elijah happened to look in the stands and saw me laughing at his error.  He didn't like that one bit and he let me know.  Elijah does not like to be laughed at unless he is trying to be funny.  Lesson learned, I have tried to not laugh at him when he is serious about something; and his mannerism makes that very hard to do.  I fail from time to time and for a 6 year old, he can give some pretty dirty looks.  Anyway, the topic today is again from Paul's epistle to the Corinthians:

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

I should not have laughed at my son.  It is clear here that Paul wants us to be on our guard against taking pleasure in other people's misfortune, sin, or the consequences thereof.  That is a rather Innocent example, but look at how that same thing plays itself out in other ways.   Do you enjoy it when that unfaithful spouse is finally caught, and the other spouse is granted a divorce?  When the IRS audits that neighbor who has been claiming his cat and dog on his taxes as dependents, do you breath a sigh of relief?  What about that busybody at the office?  Does your face assume a satisfied look when the boss finally sees all of the trouble that person is causing?  When that fast talking, prosperity preaching television evangelist gets caught up in a scandal, do you post it up on facebook and say I told you so?  Are you happy when someone knocks the stuffing out of that bully at school?  What about that braggart who has been telling everyone about their new car.  When they total loss that car, do you secretly rejoice?  What about when that family member's big 6 room mansion burns to the ground.  Do you celebrate in your inner self as long as everyone gets out safely?

The other day, I was talking to a lady, who has not spoken to her sister in over 5 years because of something her sister did concerning their mother's estate.  In the conversation this little old Christian lady stated over and over again that her sister would get her just reward in this life or the next.  This little old lady who makes snacks and cakes and coffee for the whole building spoke nothing but evil into her sisters life.  But are we not all guilty of delighting in evil? 

Recently I saw a television show of a popular boxer almost coming to blows with his father.  What was worse was what that same man said about his father to his face.  He was so very disrespectful to his father, and the Bible is clear that we are to honor our mother and father.  I did not like the man after I saw that.  Recently, that man got sentenced to jail and I did rejoice.  Why?  Because I was not in the spirit, but in the flesh.  If I had been operating in the spirit, and allowing the fruit of agape love to flow through me, I would have prayed for that young man.  Instead I said to myself---that dude got exactly what he deserved.  I was delighting in evil, and it is right for me to repent of that sin.

Brothers and Sisters, do not rejoice when others fall upon hard times for whatever reason.  Trust me, I know that is easier said than done.  However, you can be more mindful of your heart in this matter now.  Don't you want people to show you compassion when you have evil befall you.  I know I do.  Suffering is real whether it be self-inflicted or otherwise.  The bigger picture is the condition of that persons soul when they die, not necessarily how they live.  Showing compassion to people when they are at their lowest point is a very Christ-like thing to do.  When the world scorns them, Christians should embrace them, pray for them and love them anyway!  Do not delight in evil.