Previous Challenge Entry (Level 4 – Masters)
Topic: ADORE (11/23/23)
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TITLE: Adoration's Two Components | Previous Challenge Entry
By Doug Laird
11/27/23 -
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One can have deep love, but fail to have respect. One can have respect, but have no deep love.
For example, under normal circumstances, children can possess a natural, bonding, personal love for parents, but behaviorally can rebel and exhibit no respect for parental feelings or authority.
Wives can possess a personally deep love for their husbands, but choose to show no respect for their God-given marital authority.
Military recruits will learn to respect their drill instructors, and superior officers in the field, but may not have a personal love for them.
Citizens can respect the governmental leaders and enforcement officers, but have no feelings of personal love for them.
Employees can have respect for their employer or supervisor, but have no personal love for him or her.
In fact, the love without respect, and respect without love is possible in any scenario in which one human being has authority over another.
Note that it is personal love, and not unconditional love, that is being referenced in the above scenarios.
Personal love is very fragile and can be easily offended, whereas unconditional (agape) love is not easily offended (1), nor is it based on how we feel.
Agape love is generated and exhibited through the enabling and sustaining power of God (2).
Responding with agape love to betrayal, insult, false accusations, and disappointment is not the natural thing to do. It is the supernatural thing to do, with the enabling and sustaining power that God supplies.
It is agape (unconditional) love, for example, that advancing disciples are commanded (3) to have and to exhibit towards enemies, and towards others with whom we share a personal relationship when our personal love and feelings have been offended.
Our response to being offended is a choice that WE make, and a choice for which WE are accountable.
When we commit the sin of refusing to unconditionally forgive others, it opens the door to the sin of revenge, plants the seeds of bitterness in our own soul, and costs us the loss of fellowship with God.
There is no place for unforgiveness or revenge in the daily life of an advancing disciple.
Such oddity, that is immediately and unconditionally forgiving those who offend us, and doing good for those who use, and hate us (4) does not go unnoticed (5) by angelic and human observers.
Such responses can open the door to many opportunities to tell others why, as a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ, we do (or don’t do) what we do.
The obedient and conforming (6) lifestyle of an advancing disciple is what brings glory to God, especially when the fallen nature within us (7) pressures us to retaliate.
Obedience is evidence of the adoration that an advancing disciple has for God. Adoration for God is entwined in the two greatest commandments.
“… ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall (have and express agape) love your neighbor as yourself.’” – Matt. 22: 37-39 NASB2020 parenthesis mine.
The impact of our unspoken testimony, such as being seen going to Church for an hour on Sunday morning, is diminished if we don’t live any differently than our worldly counterparts for the remaining 167 hours each week.
Jesus made the connection between love and obedience.
“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments (John 14: 15 NASB2020).”
Accordingly, it is the extent of our obedience that demonstrates our personal love for Him.
Just how deep then is the love that qualifies for adoration?
“… you shall love the Lord your God with ALL your heart, and with ALL your soul, and with ALL your mind, and with ALL your strength (Mark 12: 30 NASB2020).”
Until and unless God and the things of God are given top priority in our daily, moment to moment, decision-making process, we will inevitably find ourselves in a Rev. 2: 4 scenario, having lost (the priority of) our first love.
Like a troubled Peter had to learn, our adoration for God will to be expressed through concern and care for the spiritual well-being of other people (8).
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(1) 1Cor. 13: 4-7 (2) John 15: 5 (3) Luke 6:27 (4) Luke 6: 27 (5) Heb. 12: 1 (6) Romans 8: 29 (7) Romans 7: 14 – 24 (8) John 21: 15-17
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