Unfailing love and truth have met together.
Righteousness and peace have kissed! (Psalms 85:10 NLT)
Jesus always moved in lovingkindness and truth. When you elevate either love or truth above the other, you always distort the character of God.
In July of 1967, the Beatles released the song “All You Need is Love.”It had a very catchy title and became the rallying cry for the counterculture movement of the 1960s. Unfortunately, especially for Christians, the message in this song is just not true.
As a missionary, I trained young people for mission trips. We once had a young lady in one of our training schools. She had experienced a very hurtful past. God extended his lovingkindness to her, and the wounds of her past started to be healed.
As time passed, along with his lovingkindness, God started to confront her with the truth. Though wrongfully treated, her response to those actions, were not always right eighter. She continually resisted forgiving those who had hurt her and taking responsibility for her actions. Her healing was never really consummated, and her discipleship stunted.
We never become fully functioning as Christian unless we embrace the whole counsel of God, which includes his lovingkindness and his truth. Love is the balm of Gilead that starts our healing process, but it is embracing the truth that ultimately sets us free (John 8:32).
People who are unwilling to accept God’s truth and love seem to develop a dependent personality. They acquire a leak in their love bucket. The more love that you deposit into it, the more they seem to need.
These people develop a lifelong quest to be loved, but it always seems to be just out of their grasp. Their desire to receive love far exceeds their willingness to give it. It becomes all about them.
You can go along in life singing, as the Beatles did; all I need is love, but if you do, you will never grow into the fullness of Christ.
The image is used with permission by Microsoft.
Ken Barnes is the author of “Broken Vessels” published in February 2021 and “The Chicken Farm and Other Sacred Places”, published by YWAM Publishing in 2011.
Ken’s Website— https://kenbarnes.us/
Ken blogs at https://kenbarnes.us/blog/
Email- [email protected]
