Jesus said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” – John 13:34,35
John said, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9 In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. 10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” – 1 John 4:7-11
Paul said, “Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed (arrogant) up; 5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks (keeps no account) no evil; 6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”
– 1 Corinthians 13:4-7
For the believer in Jesus, we are hardwired to love, it’s in our nature, that is, our new nature, you know, the one Christ gave to us when we received Him as our personal Lord and Savior; that nature. When we become a believer in Jesus, we become partakers of Christ divine nature.
The Apostle Peter said it this way, “To those who have obtained (received) like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: 2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, 3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, 4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption (depravity) that is in the world through lust.” – 2 Peter 1:1-4
Peter reminds us that we have what we need to live our lives in a godly way. We do this through the power of the Holy Spirit who lives within us as believers. Part of this power to live godly comes from the fact that we too partake in Christ’ divine nature; because He is within us, so is His power to love like Him and live like Him.
In late 2017 Bethel Music released a worship song titled Reckless Love. It speaks of God’s love for us as His people, but even more so, His love for the world, that they would trust in Him and come to faith. The chorus goes like this:
Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God, Oh, it chases me down, fights ’til I’m found, leaves the ninety-nine. I couldn’t earn it, I don’t deserve it, still You give yourself away. Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God.
While some believers see this song title as offensive and a rude way to describe God’s love for us, a closer look at the lyrics reveal a deeper truth that God’s love for us is as reckless as it is real. What Jesus did for us in demonstrating His love for us is as remarkable as it is reckless.
The Apostle Paul describe God’s love for us this way, “For when we were still without strength, in due time (at the right time) Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. 10 For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. 11 And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.” – Romans 5:6-11
What a remarkable passage of scripture! I mean think about it, before we were even saved, God proved His love for us by sending Jesus to die for our sin. Now that we are saved by His grace, God loves us even more. It’s this understanding that gives us an inner strength to endure through difficult seasons in life. God’s love for us sustains us through the good times and the difficult. The Lord is with as we go through our trials. Our faith, the hope we have in Christ, and our love for the Lord give the believer patience to endure every season of life. This endurance makes it possible for us to grow in our character and mature in our faith. Jesus said that those who endure till the end shall be saved. Hang in there baby, we’re almost home!
Let’s look at this last part of the passage again, “Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. 10 For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.” – (vs.9,10)
- The logic of this passage states that if God saved us even when we were sinners, how much more will He save us now that we are saved and considered by Him to be His children. While it’s true that there is a wrath to come, it’s equally true that believers in Jesus will not, or never experience it; ever!
We are living in the last days, the days just before the Rapture of the Church. We will be spared from God’s wrath that will be poured out upon the earth during the seven-year tribulation. There is another aspect to this wrath that Paul is describing, the wrath that manifests when a sinner dies and is cast into Hell. This is God’s ultimate wrath that is revealed in the second death, the lake of fire. Believers living today can rejoice in knowing that we are saved from the seven-year tribulation and also from an eternal Hell of unquenchable fire and damnation. Knowing what we are saved from helps us to appreciate the great salvation that has been afforded us through Jesus. Paul concludes his thought in this passage by saying, ‘but wait, there’s more!’
“And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.” – (vs.11)
- The word reconciliation is also translated atonement. It infers ‘being brought back into fellowship with God.’ Mankind declared war on God at the fall, but God responded by sending Jesus to reconcile us back to the Father. Jesus acted on our behalf by providing atonement for our sin. In response, we too must act by receiving this great gift of grace and accept Jesus’ atonement (forgiveness) for our sin.
When we fully understand what we have been saved from and what God has in store for us in glory, we should rejoice and be glad, tell others about it, and live our lives to the fullest knowing that one day soon we will be with Jesus, and all those who have called upon His name, in Heaven. All of this has been brought to us by God’s reckless, crazy love.
I am reminded of a song by the band Poco from the late 70’s titled, Crazy Love. The lyrics go like this:
Tonight I’m gonna break away, just to wait and see. I’ve never been imprisoned by a faded memory. Just when I think I’m over her, this broken heart will mend. I hear her name and I have to cry, the tears come down again.
Chorus: It happens all the time, this crazy love of mine, wraps around my heart, refusing to unwind, Ooh-ooh, crazy love,
I count the stars in the summer sky, that fall without a sound. And then pretend that you can’t hear, these teardrops coming down.
While this was a nice song about a man’s love for a woman from his past, it speaks about a love that continues even after the relationship had ended. It has a sort of sad feel to it because the couple is no longer and we don’t know why, just that they are no longer a couple, yet this man still loves her; that’s a crazy love.
In like manner, I think that a lot of love songs speak to not only a man’s love for a woman and vise versa, but God’s love for man; if he would only listen and reach out to the Heavenly Father. A lot of bands from that era (60’s & 70’s) use the word ‘love’ but it’s meaning is worldly and sensual. However, the Father’s love for us isn’t like that at all. His love consumes us, surrounds us, and binds us together with Him and all those who love Him. It sounds like I am describing the force from the Star Wars universe, but in reality, I am describing God’s crazy love for us; it’s as reckless as we are, if not a little bit more. If more people could love like God loves, this world would be a better place. Those people who have placed their faith in Jesus do love (or at least they should) like God loves, as a result, their world is a better place, and everyone around them benefits from how they express God’s love toward others; that’s crazy!
I am reminded of the young boy who testified of his formerly alcoholic father’s conversion to Christ. He said, ‘I don’t know a lot about the Bible, but I do know that Jesus turned my dad’s alcohol addiction into furniture and food in our house and he saved my parent’s marriage.’ That’s crazy love. We see and hear a lot of testimonies like this where a person of faith experiences a bought of loneliness, a physical aliment, or the temptation to have an affair with someone. Their bodies are wracked with age, weight, and/or some other physical, mental, or emotional issue and they become out of balance with their spiritual life formation. Their words and choices will often reflect the spiritual warfare they are experiencing and the love that they would have given (should be giving) is lost to their own personal struggle. It’s one of the many ways the enemy infiltrates the local church and believer, luring them away into their own fantasy or delusion of grandeur. I have seen this more than not and sometimes have to fight this tendency myself as I grow older and mature in my faith. It would seem that youth and the opportunities that are afforded the young are often spent on the less experienced and less appreciative. This is why as older believers, we need to keep our love lamps burning bright for the Lord and our focus forward toward His promises for us, some that are temporarily manifested for us in this life, but most will be made real in the life to come.
David said it this way, “I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. 14 Wait (in faith) on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the Lord!” – Psalm 27:13,14
Paul reminds us, “Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. 15 Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you.” – Philippians 3:13-15
We have a lot of widows and widowers in the body of Christ. Many of these precious people who are wired to love can no longer do so because of their unfortunate predicament. It’s not that they have stopped loving or have lost the desire to love, it’s that the person to which they were in covenant with has passed. Then there are those precious saints who have lost their marriages to divorce; another unfortunate reality in the body of Christ. Sometimes a divorce can be more painful than the loss of a loved one to their passing, however, I wouldn’t know, I have never drank for either of those cups. What I can tell you is that we, as believers in Jesus, are wired to love, and when we can no longer love in the way that we used to, it can be challenging and a bit overwhelming for them at times. Then there is the group of people within our body who have never married, for whatever reason, yet, they too are wired to love and are not able due to their status in life. We can’t leave out the way-to-many married believers who are as lonely and lost in their own dysfunctional marriages. All of these groups are created to love, yet, for a varying array of reasons, cannot; that’s as unfortunate as it is crazy.
NOTE: Before I continue, I want to clarify the word ‘wired’ in context to this blog. When I say wired I mean plumbed, and all that it entails. Your body knows what it needs, your flesh has an agenda, and it wants what it wants in these situations when the opportunity presents itself to ‘love’ where it shouldn’t. The temptation may be more than what you are ready for. This being said, please be careful how you interact with others if you are operating from a ‘love deficit’ (blog soon to follow) and try not to allow yourself to get into places or situations where you will be compromised, emotionally or otherwise.
When I was a younger, single man, I remember my dad telling me to never allow myself to be placed in situations where I might be compromised, especially with the ladies. My dad told me that he would not be with me when the situation arises so I would have to make the right decision before I got there. I remember in my senior year of high school, I was with my girlfriend (at that time) and we were in a compromising situation, that is, an unchaperoned room. I remembered my dad’s words and we got out of there, fast. Later the little lady thanked me for respecting her. Little did she know that I was scared out of my wits. I was always respectful to the girls I dated and ran with in my youth, I never had sex with any of them. The only lady I have been with like that is my wife, even to this day I might add. I never considered myself to be a ‘lusty’ guy or a skirt chaser, perhaps it was because I had six sisters to contend with. Anyway, my point for this blog is made, watch out for the crazy love, it’s out there and it’s looking for you.
Later in life when our only daughter was of age, she did well with her dates and married a stellar young man who, with Cali, has graced Debi and I with two beautiful granddaughters. I see all of this as positive payback for how well I treated all those other dad’s daughters that I ran with in my youth. While this may sound a little chauvinistic toward the ladies, I want to assure you that I am very far from that when it comes to the proper care and respect for the women folk. However, since the target audience for all my blogs are men of faith, I am speaking mainly to them, however, the sisters who also read these blogs can benefit because last I checked, they have ‘plumbing’ (wiring) issues too; isn’t God great! Just know that I am a chivalrous gentleman who respects all women and their varying style, moods, and demeanor.
I have been in the ministry for over 30 years and I have seen and done a lot of things in my life as a minister. I have come to appreciate good boundaries and appropriate conversations with my brothers and sisters in the Lord. I know that the enemy would love to derail another believer, particularly a minister, with some crazy love that has no place in the life of a believer. I am a hugger, I love to hug people I love, but with Covid and all the precautions we are to be considering, I have curtailed this a bit. Now I am more of a one-arm side hug or a fist bump. It’s not as fun, but it makes the social distancing point without offending the cherished other.
As a lay pastor (for the past year) I have learned that I still have to maintain appropriate social boundaries for myself and others because there are those lonely few who are still looking for some crazy love. Nothing that is inappropriate I am sure, but the temptation to improperly bond with another brother (or sister) is always a concern in our local fellowships; it always has been. I recently had an older married lady in our church want to engage with me in a sort of a one-on-one Bible study scenario. I reminded her that she had a husband for those kinds of things. She gave me reasons as to why that wouldn’t work for them and I graciously declined her request. Her comment as she left the room was something to the effect of ‘you have to keep proper distance,’ of which I replied, ‘Something like that.’ She was a wonderful lady and a cherished sister in Christ. She needed to be loved in a way that was beyond what I (or any other brother) should give her. This is why a good women’s ministry in every church is vital for the ladies of that church, as well, the brothers need a healthy men’s ministry.
Brothers (and sisters), please be mindful how you broker your love for the Lord with those He has entrusted to your care, be it your marriage, your family, or your church family. We must also be careful how we interact with others in the work place or at school. We must be good stewards of our faith in God and our love for others. This balance in our spiritual life formation will only enhance our ministry to others in Jesus’ name. We must love like Jesus loves and steward well this love He has given us in order to keep it from going crazy or off the rails, as it were.
One final thought as I close this blog. You can never go wrong when maintaining a good personal space discipline with your brothers (or sisters) in the Lord. A proper love and respect for our fellow saints will always yield itself toward an emotionally healthy and spiritually mature church dynamic. The enemy of our soul would love to derail anything and everything that God has for us (or would have for us) should we obey His Word and act accordingly. A crazy love is as it does, be it in a late 70’s pop rock hit or in an unchaperoned room; either way, the more we love like Jesus, the less crazy our social dynamics will become. Anyone can hide in their proverbial hobbit hole to maintain a place of emotional safety and social calm, but that’s not what or who we were created for. Like those ships that sail at sea, the damage they incur both above and below the water lines of their hulls due to their nautical travels would be avoided if they stayed within the confines of a harbor, but that is not what ships, or us, were created for.
Maranatha!
Encouragemen is a blog written by Pastor Rob Lee, recently relocated to Northwest Missouri. He lives with his wife of 32-years, near their three adult children, their spouses, and children (their grandchildren). Pastor Rob is an Ordained Assemblies of God minister, a former Lead Pastor (25 years), police chaplain, and community advocate. He continues to serve, consult, and disciple men of God, including those who are in the ministry.
Encourage Men 
Excellent!!
I appreciate the song choices.
It may seem like a long read, but if you endure to the end I promise the blessing is greater than the sacrifice.
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