Love at first sight is every schoolgirl’s dream.
Picture it: Prince Charming rides in, red valentine hearts bloom in the air, and happiness follows the young couple into old age and beyond.
Yet true love is less an emotional response and more a determination to give up what we must give up to make our spouse happy.
Is our Christian walk a Prince Charming, fairy-tale affair? Should it be? Do we fall in rapturous love with Christ and never slow down from there?
Or is our love for him of a different nature?
Romans 14:19-20 reveals the essence of our love sacrifice:
“Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another, for meat destroy not the work of God. All things indeed are pure; but it is evil for that man who eats with offense.”
Paul gives us five love truths in this two-verse passage.
Love Truth No. 1:
Follow after the things which make for peace.
Just as in a marriage, we must weigh out our activities. Which ones will make our spouse happy, and which will offend? The same is true in Christ. Our choice indicates our commitment to our Lord.
Love Truth No. 2:
Follow after… things wherewith one may edify another.
Our place in life is to build up the companions who walk at our side. In our Christian walk, as in our marriage, we must work to edify (uplift in love) our fellow believers so that they won’t stumble along the way.
Love Truth No. 3:
Meat destroy not the work of God.
Paul makes this clear: trivial things aren’t worth fighting about. We argue over incidental differences in the Church, and it divides us. Sometimes, just as with our spouse, we must accept our differences and concentrate on our common faith.
Love Truth No. 4:
All things indeed are pure.
Paul returns to this concept over and over. What God has created – everything! – is pure. There is nothing on this earth, when used according to its intended purpose, that is vile, whether in marriage or in life.
Love Truth No. 5:
It is evil for that man who eats with offense.
When our faith is weak, we fall back on rules. When we “eat with offense,” we find fault with God’s gifts unto us. We must shore up our faith in God and one another, so that we are filled with God’s compassion and understanding.
We want love to be forever. Our responsibility is to make it that way, both in our relationship with God and with those at our side.
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Code: FGO.G.30.17.vp.kjv