Quote:
Originally Posted by aron
"Love your neighbor" is also vague. We can come to the meetings, and declare, "How we love our neighbors!!", while we ignore them, or badmouth them. Funny, now that I think of it, that's the LC, isn't it? "We love everyone, but since they're not on the proper ground we can't have anything to do with them, except point out all their flaws."
Jesus wasn't a Bible teacher who sat in a corner and taught a few acolytes. He got on the street and radically changed lives. Lives that seemed unchangeable. He not only fed with the bread that perishes, but the bread that comes down out of heaven. He not only healed bodies but healed souls. He mended both flesh and psyche.
He didn't sit in a closet and have an "inner life" that was in continual communion with the Father, but had this communion continue on the street. Yes it drew its source in the quiet time. The record is clear. Yet, the result of this quiet time was seen in the market, and the homes, and the highways and byways of the world.
The real love is to love those who can't love you back. And the real work is to do the Father's will. And both of these are found in the person of Jesus Christ. Our job, as disciples, is to announce this One, preaching and teaching to every man and woman, both small and great. Along the way there are also "works", yes; the works prove the ministry. And obedience proves the relation with the Father, just as with Jesus. "If you don't believe my words, then believe the works that I do. This shows that I came forth from the Father."
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Jesus also loved the people of his day by
telling the truth. Telling the truth eventually led to his own demise. This is self-sacrificing love. Even today, if you tell the truth, it can get you buried...it's not "PC". Just as then, many times people today don't want to hear the truth...as though
the truth can be altered by the willful ignorance of men.
Truth cannot be bent by the will of men. Sometimes, the
truth hurts, yet the greatest love is to
tell the truth, because, the truth will set you free.
Telling the truth is not an option. It's mandatory. You may pay a price, but not telling your brother
the truth is to hate him.
Nell