Taking care of love in the church

From: January 20-26, 2009 Study #575 (327)

Topic: “Taking care of love in the church” Matthew 5:22 Beloved, let us be conscious of everything that wants to lose us, for the enemy attacks strongly those who love. Love is a subject frequently spoken and people praise themselves about how much they love, but in the practice we can see how little it is complied with this great commandment. If we read Matthew 5:22 very carefully we can see that when we do not love we will receive horrific judgments. And we all want to avoid these great risks. We must understand that when someone becomes angry with a brother what happens is that we mistreat and abuse them. Sometimes because of an outrage we call our partners in faith a fool and this word must never be used against our brothers (sisters) because its meaning is very strong. In Hebrew this word means to be empty, vain, to not have courage, it is to think of others with despise. This is why one mistreats and abuses. This happens when one does not love. But, love is wonderful. God is love, let us learn from Him. We must struggle with all our strength to conserve ourselves in love, in communion with God. But, the first thing we must do is seek for perfection and God’s fulfillment with the help of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. There we will be perfected in character and in love. 1 John 4:18 Then, once you are perfected in love everything that surrounds you concerning your relationship with others will be wonderful. When you begin to love according to how the Father has established, the first thing you do is correct yourself and not wait to blame others. It is terrible to see people become upset with their siblings and not tolerate a hug from a brother. That is why they start missing church and eventually abandon the church. Then, along with anger comes gossip and false accusations. All it brings is spiritual destruction. When there is anger against the brother, what is really manifested is rebelliousness against God and as Mathew 5:22 says, that person is exposed to the fire in Hell. Jesus said: “but I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment.” When someone dares to intervene with the body of Christ (the church) they intervene with the Lord Himself. This person will be in great problems because he will be taken to the judge and the judge will take him to the sheriff and he will be thrown in jail. Mathew 5:25 It is the Lord who defends the Church and accuses the aggressor. He will be the one to turn in the aggressor to the judge and to the sheriff for judgment. Let us be faithful to God and to the love that God has given us. In love there is no confusion or doubt, and no questions are asked. Love is the most greatest and wonderful thing. If there is any triumph it is because of the love. As Jesus taught, when we do not love our brother, we are the ones who end up harmed, not our brother. After all, it is not the brother who will remain affected when he is not loved. Those who lack love are the ones who are lost. We can see this in those who tell lies and start to gossip about the Lord’s church. But God has given us solutions when disagreements and misunderstandings occur. When we have something against our brother the solution is in the Scriptures and there is an order as we can read in Mathew 5:23 – 26. It says: “leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.” Beloved, the day you do this you will be delivered. Reconcile with your brother so that you may approach God’s table and be a son and not a slave. Yes, seek to be free from slavery and from being punished by the executioners. Mathew 18:35 Because when we turn into our brothers adversaries we also become adversaries of our Lord Jesus Christ. We must watch out for this and anything that may seem similar. Let us not forget that those who leave the church will receive spiritual death. And since the church has kept the antichrist from manifesting himself, the church cannot allow itself to be defeated because of anger, gossip, the flesh and the enemy. 2 Thessalonians 2: 6 There is a harvest of souls to gather, but the only way to gather it is with love. The ministries, the gifts that God has for us are ministered with love. In this path, surely we will have many people who will rise against us who do not love us. But, if we do not allow ourselves to have this love we will destroy ourselves. Then we will not have a harvest when we become of age, except frustration. We must be careful not to make Jesus our enemy by getting angry with our brother, for when we get angry we become prisoners of hatred. “How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity…” says the Scriptures. “…for there the LORD bestows his blessing, even life forevermore.” Psalms 133:1 The more we battle on behalf of others the more life we will have. This is why Abraham, Jacob, Isaac, etc., lived so many years. The only

way that we can work more for the salvation of our loved ones is by loving them. Because those who do not love will not come out of jail until they pay the last quadrant (the smallest coin of the Romans). It is like saying, until everything is paid off, even the smallest debt, they won’t be able to come out. Those who do not love will pay for their wrong doing. But if we have peace with the Lord and we repent, then we make peace with men. But we must understand that peace does not come because we are in agreement, but rather when we love. This is why beloved, we must be wise to love. Amen.