NEWS Only From The Heart
Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law. The commandments, 'Do not commit adultery,' 'Do not murder,' 'Do not steal,' 'Do not covet,' and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' (Romans 13:8-9)
This is one of the most powerful Scriptures in the Bible. Here is the Apostle Paul - a former religious Pharisee and 'keeper of the law' - telling the Romans that all the commandments can be summed up in one rule: LOVE. There is no need to memorize all the commands. If you have His love in your heart, you will automatically do the right thing.
Love comes from God. God is love (1 John 4:8). If our hearts are aligned with God's heart, we possess a heart full of His eternal, everlasting love. There is nothing more beautiful than a human heart full of God's love. A heart of this kind always does the right thing. Always! That is what Paul told the Romans: Love is the fulfillment of the law. (Romans 13:10)
Here's a question I've been thinking about a lot recently:
Can we command people to love their neighbors and their enemies?
I was reading a fascinating book titled "Man's Search for Meaning" by Viktor E. Frankel. Frankel was a holocaust survivor. He was also a trained psychiatrist. Toward the end of the book, Dr. Frankel makes the case for what he calls 'tragic optimism.' He describes tragic optimism as an optimism in the face of tragedy and in view of the human potential which at its best always allows for: (1) turning suffering into a human achievement and accomplishment; (2) deriving from guilt the opportunity to change oneself for the better; and (3) deriving from life's transitoriness an incentive to take responsible action.
Frankel goes on to say:
"It must be kept in mind, however, that optimism is not anything to be commanded or ordered. One cannot even force oneself to be optimistic indiscriminately, against all odds, against all hope. And what is true for hope is also true for the other two components of the triad inasmuch as faith and love cannot be commanded or ordered either." (p. 162)
This is the line that struck me hard: "Inasmuch as faith and love cannot be commanded or ordered either." Dr. Frankel answered the question I had been thinking deeply about in the negative. He says we cannot command or order somebody to have faith or to love.
Let's explore this issue further, because I believe it goes right to the heart of what Christianity should be all about.
The Apostle Paul told the Galatians: 'the only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.' (Galatians 5:6) The Galatians wanted to follow the Judaic law and Christ at the same time. Paul was stern with the Galatians. He said that you couldn't do both. Faith through love is the only thing that counts when following Christ.
Which brings me back to Frankel. Dr. Frankel believed that faith and love, like optimism, could not be commanded. And yet, Paul told the Romans that love is the fulfillment of all commandments.
So what do we make of this? I believe that Dr. Frankel is both right and wrong. You can indeed command somebody to have faith or love. In this sense Frankel is wrong. However, commanding somebody to have faith or love doesn't mean they will obey the command. In fact, unless their heart is properly and perfectly aligned with God's heart, you can bet your bottom dollar they will fall short of always obeying these commands. In this sense, Dr. Frankel is correct.
Why was Jesus so powerful when he walked in the flesh on this planet? He was powerful precisely because He and God's hearts were (and are) one. You can't disentangle Jesus' heart from God's heart. They are perfectly entangled - always and forever. There is nothing more beautiful than a human heart that is perfectly entangled with God's heart. This is what Jesus meant when He told His disciples:
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God. (Matthew 5:8)
Pure hearts are blessed hearts. They are hearts blessed with God's love. And these loving hearts see God (As the Apostle John told us, God is love). Do you see the beauty in what Jesus is saying in Matthew 5:8?
Our human hearts have difficulty loving enemies and neighbors. Many people are not raised on love. Their parents and families fall short of love - all too often, far short of love. As people go from childhood to adulthood, their hearts become filled with darkness (e.g., shame, guilt, apathy, grief, fear, anger). As adults, they find a mate, get married, have children and start families. But they do so with hearts filled with darkness. A vicious cycle begins. Darkness breeds more darkness. The pure, loving heart of a child is nowhere to be found. It vanishes without a trace.
How do we know this to be true? Well, let's look at the world today and take a look at history. I would venture to say that many people on this planet hate their enemies and don't like their neighbors. Now, I'm not saying all people hate their enemies and their neighbors. But from the best I can tell, hatred is rampant on our planet today.
History shows that the only time people are at not at war with other people is when they are too ill to fight. It turns out peace has existed only about 3% of the time in recorded human history. In other words, people are at war with each other 97% of the time. War is the normal state of affair in the world, not peace.
Jesus knew that loving hearts are not prone fight other loving hearts. If we loved our brothers and sisters as ourselves, as He commanded us to, much of the fighting in the world would cease (ahhhhh.....). Hearts filled with love are gentle and kind. They are not easily angered. They are patient. They are not jealous and they do not envy. They rejoice in the truth. They suffer long. These hearts bear all things, believe all things, hope all things and endure all things (1 Corinthians 13:4-7). With a heart full of His love, there will be little if any fear (ahhhhh....). His perfect love casts out all fear. (1 John 4:18)
The truth is, God's heart has no problem loving our enemies and our neighbors nor does he have any problem loving us (Do you feel loved right now? You should! God loves you!). He, in fact, adores our enemies and neighbors, and he adores us.
How does God do it? That is a mystery to me. But when I think about this mystery, I always come out with a greater appreciation for how awesome God's love is. There is nothing more powerful in the universe than God's love. It can transform any darkness that exists into light.
Now, you may ask, how can we have a heart like God? Jesus showed us they way. We can transform our hearts by surrendering all the darkness in them - that is, the shame, guilt, apathy, grief, fear, anger - to Him and going to the Cross. It is at the Cross that He transforms the darkness in our hearts to light. This is a daily process. It is very difficult and painful (there are no padded crosses!) Each day, a little more darkness dies which allows more of His light to shine through our hearts. Over time, when His light begins to shine, we become 'the light of the world.' (Matthew 5:14) Like the house on the hill, we cannot be hidden.
A heart of Christ is a loving heart - a heart filled with Spiritual fruit (Galatians 5:22-23). A heart of Christ will automatically do the correct thing. It will fulfill the law, as Paul told the Romans. He must increase, but I must decrease. (John 3:30)
T. Austin Sparks defined Christianity as 'Christ in our hearts.' How simple. And yet, we've managed to make a tragic mess of the simplicity of Christ. Some three hundred years after Christ ascended into heaven, man went and created a religion about Jesus that today has largely become devoid of love. A religion that lacks the very essence of what Christianity should be all about - Christ in our hearts. How tragic!
I believe this is one of the biggest problems in the world today. In fact, I will make a prediction: Until Christians understand that Christianity is truly all about having an intimate, personal relationship with Christ based on faith expressing itself through love, there will be much darkness and very little light on our beautiful planet. As the former religious Pharisee, Paul, knew oh so well, it is only from the heart that we can obey any of His commands. Any other way will fall short of the mark. You can count on it.
May your heart be overflowing with His love, always.
Agape,
Steve
This is one of the most powerful Scriptures in the Bible. Here is the Apostle Paul - a former religious Pharisee and 'keeper of the law' - telling the Romans that all the commandments can be summed up in one rule: LOVE. There is no need to memorize all the commands. If you have His love in your heart, you will automatically do the right thing.
Love comes from God. God is love (1 John 4:8). If our hearts are aligned with God's heart, we possess a heart full of His eternal, everlasting love. There is nothing more beautiful than a human heart full of God's love. A heart of this kind always does the right thing. Always! That is what Paul told the Romans: Love is the fulfillment of the law. (Romans 13:10)
Here's a question I've been thinking about a lot recently:
Can we command people to love their neighbors and their enemies?
I was reading a fascinating book titled "Man's Search for Meaning" by Viktor E. Frankel. Frankel was a holocaust survivor. He was also a trained psychiatrist. Toward the end of the book, Dr. Frankel makes the case for what he calls 'tragic optimism.' He describes tragic optimism as an optimism in the face of tragedy and in view of the human potential which at its best always allows for: (1) turning suffering into a human achievement and accomplishment; (2) deriving from guilt the opportunity to change oneself for the better; and (3) deriving from life's transitoriness an incentive to take responsible action.
Frankel goes on to say:
"It must be kept in mind, however, that optimism is not anything to be commanded or ordered. One cannot even force oneself to be optimistic indiscriminately, against all odds, against all hope. And what is true for hope is also true for the other two components of the triad inasmuch as faith and love cannot be commanded or ordered either." (p. 162)
This is the line that struck me hard: "Inasmuch as faith and love cannot be commanded or ordered either." Dr. Frankel answered the question I had been thinking deeply about in the negative. He says we cannot command or order somebody to have faith or to love.
Let's explore this issue further, because I believe it goes right to the heart of what Christianity should be all about.
The Apostle Paul told the Galatians: 'the only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.' (Galatians 5:6) The Galatians wanted to follow the Judaic law and Christ at the same time. Paul was stern with the Galatians. He said that you couldn't do both. Faith through love is the only thing that counts when following Christ.
Which brings me back to Frankel. Dr. Frankel believed that faith and love, like optimism, could not be commanded. And yet, Paul told the Romans that love is the fulfillment of all commandments.
So what do we make of this? I believe that Dr. Frankel is both right and wrong. You can indeed command somebody to have faith or love. In this sense Frankel is wrong. However, commanding somebody to have faith or love doesn't mean they will obey the command. In fact, unless their heart is properly and perfectly aligned with God's heart, you can bet your bottom dollar they will fall short of always obeying these commands. In this sense, Dr. Frankel is correct.
Why was Jesus so powerful when he walked in the flesh on this planet? He was powerful precisely because He and God's hearts were (and are) one. You can't disentangle Jesus' heart from God's heart. They are perfectly entangled - always and forever. There is nothing more beautiful than a human heart that is perfectly entangled with God's heart. This is what Jesus meant when He told His disciples:
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God. (Matthew 5:8)
Pure hearts are blessed hearts. They are hearts blessed with God's love. And these loving hearts see God (As the Apostle John told us, God is love). Do you see the beauty in what Jesus is saying in Matthew 5:8?
Our human hearts have difficulty loving enemies and neighbors. Many people are not raised on love. Their parents and families fall short of love - all too often, far short of love. As people go from childhood to adulthood, their hearts become filled with darkness (e.g., shame, guilt, apathy, grief, fear, anger). As adults, they find a mate, get married, have children and start families. But they do so with hearts filled with darkness. A vicious cycle begins. Darkness breeds more darkness. The pure, loving heart of a child is nowhere to be found. It vanishes without a trace.
How do we know this to be true? Well, let's look at the world today and take a look at history. I would venture to say that many people on this planet hate their enemies and don't like their neighbors. Now, I'm not saying all people hate their enemies and their neighbors. But from the best I can tell, hatred is rampant on our planet today.
History shows that the only time people are at not at war with other people is when they are too ill to fight. It turns out peace has existed only about 3% of the time in recorded human history. In other words, people are at war with each other 97% of the time. War is the normal state of affair in the world, not peace.
Jesus knew that loving hearts are not prone fight other loving hearts. If we loved our brothers and sisters as ourselves, as He commanded us to, much of the fighting in the world would cease (ahhhhh.....). Hearts filled with love are gentle and kind. They are not easily angered. They are patient. They are not jealous and they do not envy. They rejoice in the truth. They suffer long. These hearts bear all things, believe all things, hope all things and endure all things (1 Corinthians 13:4-7). With a heart full of His love, there will be little if any fear (ahhhhh....). His perfect love casts out all fear. (1 John 4:18)
The truth is, God's heart has no problem loving our enemies and our neighbors nor does he have any problem loving us (Do you feel loved right now? You should! God loves you!). He, in fact, adores our enemies and neighbors, and he adores us.
How does God do it? That is a mystery to me. But when I think about this mystery, I always come out with a greater appreciation for how awesome God's love is. There is nothing more powerful in the universe than God's love. It can transform any darkness that exists into light.
Now, you may ask, how can we have a heart like God? Jesus showed us they way. We can transform our hearts by surrendering all the darkness in them - that is, the shame, guilt, apathy, grief, fear, anger - to Him and going to the Cross. It is at the Cross that He transforms the darkness in our hearts to light. This is a daily process. It is very difficult and painful (there are no padded crosses!) Each day, a little more darkness dies which allows more of His light to shine through our hearts. Over time, when His light begins to shine, we become 'the light of the world.' (Matthew 5:14) Like the house on the hill, we cannot be hidden.
A heart of Christ is a loving heart - a heart filled with Spiritual fruit (Galatians 5:22-23). A heart of Christ will automatically do the correct thing. It will fulfill the law, as Paul told the Romans. He must increase, but I must decrease. (John 3:30)
T. Austin Sparks defined Christianity as 'Christ in our hearts.' How simple. And yet, we've managed to make a tragic mess of the simplicity of Christ. Some three hundred years after Christ ascended into heaven, man went and created a religion about Jesus that today has largely become devoid of love. A religion that lacks the very essence of what Christianity should be all about - Christ in our hearts. How tragic!
I believe this is one of the biggest problems in the world today. In fact, I will make a prediction: Until Christians understand that Christianity is truly all about having an intimate, personal relationship with Christ based on faith expressing itself through love, there will be much darkness and very little light on our beautiful planet. As the former religious Pharisee, Paul, knew oh so well, it is only from the heart that we can obey any of His commands. Any other way will fall short of the mark. You can count on it.
May your heart be overflowing with His love, always.
Agape,
Steve
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