Loving So Much it Hurts

“For I wrote you out of great distress and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to grieve you but to let you know the depth of my love for you.”
– 2 Corinthians 2:4

The Apostle Paul was under attack.

As Paul begins his second letter to the Corinthian church, we see him defending himself against the false teachers who had infiltrated that church. Paul defends his conduct, his words and his motives. Then, he identifies six character traits of a godly leader.

 

In 2 Corinthians 1:15-22, Paul describes the first five character traits: A godly leader is hopeful, truthful, reliable, anointed and Spirit-filled. Jesus demonstrated each of these character traits, and so did Paul. In the next six verses, Paul highlights the sixth – and most important -- character trait for a godly leader: God’s agape love. Like Jesus, a godly leader is LOVING (vs. 1:23-2:4).

 

Paul wrote 1 Corinthians to rebuke the new church for sins that had developed in the church after he planted it. Later, when word got back to Paul that the Corinthians had not fully repented of those sins, he put his ministry in Ephesus on hold to make a hurried visit to Corinth. Paul could have stuck with his original travel plans. But he loved the Corinthian Christians too much to ignore their sin.

 

Sadly, the visit didn’t go well. It appears that one church member got in Paul’s face, slandered him and treated him disrespectfully. And the rest of the church just sat there. No one came to his defense, and it broke Paul’s heart. So, he left.

 

After leaving, Paul wrote another letter to the Corinthians that is not preserved in the New Testament. He mentions it in verse 2:4: ““For I wrote you out of great distress and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to grieve you but to let you know the depth of my love for you.” In that letter, Paul rebuked the Christians who needed to be rebuked and corrected those who needed to be corrected. His letter may have seemed harsh, but it was written in agape love.

 

Even when the Corinthians treated Paul terribly, he loved them … selflessly, sacrificially and unconditionally. Paul could have ignored the Corinthian Christians’ sins, but he loved them too much. So, he confronted their sin. Then, after he did, he backed off, rather than pouring salt on an open wound.

 

When agape love demanded that he speak, Paul spoke. And when agape love demanded that he refrain from speaking, he refrained from speaking … just like Jesus.

 

If Jesus truly is your Lord, ask yourself: Which of these character traits is lacking in your life?

 

Are you HOPEFUL – looking for the best in people? Are you TRUTHFUL – a man or woman of your word? Are you RELIABLE – someone people can count on to follow through? Are you ANOINTED and SPIRIT-FULLED – full of Christ, not just full of yourself? Most of all, are you LOVING? Do you humbly love the Christians around you?

 

Remember, like Jesus, a godly leader loves the people around him with a selfless, sacrificial, and unconditional agape love.

 

Dane Davis is the pastor of Impact Christian Church in Victorville. Join us at Impact for Sunday services at 9am: at 17746 George Blvd., or at 9 a.m. on Facebook Live or YouTube. For more information, visit www.GreaterImpact.cc.

Heard From Your Conscience Lately?

“Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially in our relations with you, with integrity and godly sincerity.” – 2 Corinthians 1:12

God has supernaturally and strategically placed an early warning system inside you. It’s called … your conscience.

 

Warren Wiersbe describes it this way: “Conscience is that inner faculty that … approves when we do right, but accuses when we do wrong…. It is the window that lets in the light; and if the window gets dirty because we disobey, then the light becomes dimmer and dimmer (see Matt. 6:22-23; Rom. 2:14-16).”

 

You see, your conscience can change over time. It can become LESS sensitive or MORE sensitive to the light of God’s moral truth – depending, in part, on whether you listen to it or ignore it. Your conscience is vital, but it’s not the final judge of truth or sin – God is. Therefore, it’s vital to wash your conscience every day with the truth from God’s Word. The more you expose your conscience to God’s pure Word and pay attention to it, the more useful your conscience will be.

 

Halfway through the first chapter of 2 Corinthians, the Apostle Paul is defending his apostleship against false teachers. And in verses 12-14, Paul makes it clear that his conscience testifies to three things: his conduct is sincere, his words are trustworthy, and his motives are pure.

 

Can you say the same for yourself? Or could the window of your conscience use some scrubbing? To keep your conscience in good working order, here are 3 action points:

 

Action Point #1: To keep your conscience clear and properly calibrated, spend time every day praying and studying God’s Word. Your conscience is no replacement for the Word of God or for the Holy Spirit living inside you. But make no mistake: Your conscience IS a beautiful and necessary gift from God. So, cleanse it by studying God’s Word and praying every day. The psalmist writes in Psalm 119:11: “I have hidden Your word in my heart that I might not sin against You.”

 

Action Point #2: Pay attention to your conscience, because God uses it to keep both your conduct and your words in check. Evil forces at work in our culture will try to convince you that ignoring your conscience is no big deal. Whatever you’ve been doing that you know you shouldn’t be doing—whether it’s viewing porn, drinking too much or blowing through stop signs — start paying more attention to your conscience. It might be in bad shape from lack of use, but God can give you a new conscience if you’ll ask Him.

 

Action Point #3: Knowing that God will judge the motives of your heart, do a motive check today. As Christians, many of us do good things for the wrong reasons. Sometimes we do good things because it makes us feel good and it makes us look good. But in 2 Corinthians 5:14, Paul writes, “Christ’s love compels us.” Can the same be said about you? Check your motives today.

 

If you allow the Word of God to cleanse your conscience and calibrate it to God’s perfect truth, it will speak to you more than ever. And when your conscience starts testifying … listen.

 

Dane Davis is the pastor of Impact Christian Church in Victorville. Join us at Impact for Sunday services at 9am: at 17746 George Blvd., or at 9 a.m. on Facebook Live or YouTube. For more information, visit www.GreaterImpact.cc.