Love Transforms


On Sunday I suggested that one of the defining characteristics of a Christian should be love. You may love pizza, your dog and your mother, so what do we understand by the term ‘love’? Scott Peck suggests that love is work, as you go against your laziness; and love is courage, as you go against your fear. Looking at Jesus in the garden before His crucifixion helps us understand that love is work and courage, not only a mushy feeling. We all know that to love some people certainly is courageous work, especially when it comes to loving our enemies.

Jesus loved the unlovable Zacchaeus. He didn’t point out his sins, but accepted him as he was, and out of this grace, he had a change of heart. We would do well to follow Jesus’ example of loving people into wholeness. Love transforms.

I then spoke a little about conflict in friendships, especially among the youth. I’ve been amazed at the number of young people God has challenged regarding this issue. Although conflict may be rife, it is encouraging to hear of people having the courage to do the work of reconciliation. What a sign of hope as the people of God!

To quote the ending of the story I read by Ann Kiemel…

The only love people in your world will understand is you.
God and you loving them.
Then they’ll believe.
Posted by Timo on Wednesday, July 26, 2006

3 comments:

  1. barry27 July 2006 at 10:33

    as i said to you after the service, it was a good message tim!

    but one thing i would like to ask you about Scott Peck's understanding of love (i.e. courage and work). is there any place for passion in that equation of love, or is the only meaningful kind of love courage and work?

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  2. Timo28 July 2006 at 11:29

    Thanks Barry. Yes, it is easy to wonder where passion and feelings fit in. Like I said on Sunday, passion, feelings, emotions - they all play a huge role in love, but perhaps are not that evident in the context of loving the unloveable (like Zacchaeus) and when dealing with conflict. I also think Peck should emphasise the passion as well.

    And..er... it's not hard work loving you Barry!

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  3. barry3 August 2006 at 13:46

    thanks

    i wonder why people leave us to have this conversation on our own...

    wish someone would sya what THEY think...

    (we know you're out there, our visitors log tells us that people are visiting... so why don't people add some comment?)

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