The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever. 1 John 2:17 (NIV)
Faith, hope and love – the opposite of lust, taking and abusing – Part 2
Go to PART 1
In the Ancient Near East, in the Hebraic tradition, someone who lived their life exclusively serving their own needs, even at the expense of others, was called a prodigal. In our modern observations of Jesus' parable of the lost son (found in Luke 15), we’ve turned a prodigal into someone who is absent from the father. But in its original form, a prodigal was someone who lived selfishly, and in that sense, was lost. Perhaps even beyond hope. A prodigal was someone who withheld from others and kept all they had to themselves; someone who stole and took from others; someone who manipulated and coerced to get what they wanted at any expense. It was this kind of selfishness – an all-consuming lust of self – that separated one from their community.
Even though God created this world and its inhabitants, we've done a great job of tainting life with lusts, leaving everyone unsatisfied. Those whose lusts are fulfilled by taking from others find that they can never get enough, so they keep on taking. And those who have been used to fulfil another’s lusts are left hollow and broken. Vulnerable in the worst way; susceptible to heart and soul thieves. All are empty and wanting. Trying to build a meaningful life that gratifies only thyself is like trying to hold onto a rope that’s being pulled by time. It will burn your hands and rip your flesh. The great legacy of a world left to its own devices is selfishness. A prodigal world, separate from and at war with itself.
1 Corinthians 13:13 says “Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.” And Matt 22:37-40 says, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: Love your neighbour as yourself. The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”
What is the will of God? What lasts beyond the selfish grip of this world? What is the opposite of lust and taking and abusing and manipulating and destroying?
Love.
Faith, hope and love.
At the risk of sounding cheesy, I am a strong believer in aggressive love. And it challenges me to my core. Aggressive not in an “I’m going to fight you” sense. But in an “I’m going to fight my pride and selfishness” sense. I AM going to love my neighbour. I am going to forgive. I am going to have faith that things can and will change. I am going to hope that my children will lead a better world than the one that I leave behind. And I fight that lust that licks at my feet day in, day out, choosing generosity, love, inclusion, hope, faith… it is these things, and these things only that make an eternal difference in our world.
The rubber hits the road when you realise that:
– your neighbour just got released from prison.
– that your father has been abusing your mother your whole life.
– your child’s school teacher believes in a different God than you.
– your best friend from high school is dying from cancer.
– your other neighbour has been charged with paedophilia.
– your wife has betrayed you.
– your child has a terminal illness.
– your husband is addicted to pornography.
– you can't seem to escape your own vices…
In these circumstances and more – the ones that play out in our real, flesh and blood lives every day – what does the will of God look like? How does faith, hope and love work here?
God has plans for you that involve where you live, what you do, where you go and all that geographical material stuff. But the focus of His ‘will' is not WHAT you will do, but WHO you WILL become.
Live an inclusive life, not a selfish one. Challenge yourself to seek faith, hope and love in every circumstance. Don’t just look out for yourself, but build into others – share your life openly, spread faith, hope and love around generously.
Selfish gain dies with you. But the love of God stands through this life and into the next.
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