Born Again
Christian is for Love and Compassion
1 John 2:10
10
He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none
occasion of stumbling in him.
Love is an undeniable mark of a born again Christian.
However, this love is not the same love that our culture thinks is love;
instead the love that will mark a child of God is the same love that marks the
character of our Heavenly Father.
This love marks every child of God because it is an inherent part of who God is,
and when God indwells His people His love comes with Him.
Why? Because God is love (1
John 4.8,16).
What are the differences between God’s love and worldly love?
God’s love, in keeping with the Bible, discovers the greatest need of the
individual and provides that need under the light of God absolute truth.
God determines our need based on His infinite knowledge (omniscience)
without any possible mistake. Our
world’s love appears to seek the desire or felt need of the individual and seeks
to provide for or affirm that desire.
This judgment is made based largely upon the opinion of the subject
rather than on authoritative truth.
While some may not recognize the distinctions between God’s
love and our worlds love the differences can be quite broad, and can vary from
person to person. This is because
many in our day have developed differing opinions about what truth is.
Lost people do not hold to the authority and infallibility of the Word of
God and their truths are more subjective or situational.
Therefore, those who hold to the truths provided in God’s Word will find
themselves loving in a way that reflects our Heavenly Father, those who hold to
some other standard of truth will reflect a more subjective, worldly, or mortal
kind of love.
The fact is that truth is an essential element in compassion.
Someone has said, love without truth is chaos, truth without love is
cruel. Hence, your standard of
truth and opinion of immortality will mold what you believe are the most
important things in life, and will be reflected in your outward expressions of
love and compassion. If there is no
eternity to come then all that matters is one’s apparent satisfaction in the
here and now. If there is an
eternity to come then this brief life diminishes in its importance is view of
those eternal treasures to come. A
person’s greatest need changes with their spiritual outlook, and the way they
love is transformed by the presence of God, or the lack thereof, in their life.
A born again Christian will show God’s love and compassion in this life because God is love and God lives within them. However, the love they show will be a love with the same eternal perspective, based on the same authoritative truth that marks our Heavenly Father’s character. Hence, a born again Christian is for love and compassion, but their love and compassion are molded by the presence of God within them.
CrossRoads Email - April 22, 2008
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