Love & Truth

And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more 

in real knowledge and all discernment. Philippians 1:9

Hi Friends!

In honor of Veteran's Day, to all those who have served, and to those who continue to serve...thank you! Even more than the gratitude we owe you, we owe you our freedom.

Today, I want to talk about love and truth. In today's world, love is equated with acceptance of all behaviors, whether those behaviors are appropriate or sinful. The world often tells us if we don't agree with a certain behavior or lifestyle, then we are haters. But that simply isn't true.

What does the Bible tell us? My pastor has been teaching on Revelation. Here's my take away from his message on Sunday. Paul wrote in Philippians 1:9 that he prayed the church's love would be abundant in knowledge and discernment. Jesus commended the church of Ephesus in Revelation 2 for holding fast to His truth but reprimanded them for losing their first love. He also commended the church of Thyatira in the same chapter for their strong love but reprimanded them for not adhering to His truth. So, to be effective for God, the church can't be all truth and no love. But, it also can't be all love and no truth. It has to be both. The church is called to love, and it is also called to speak truth. And for some reason, humans seem to have difficulty in merging those two things. We do one of two things:

1. We embrace the truth but judge others when they don't follow God's truth. We get so wrapped up in what people should be doing or not doing and whether this lifestyle is right or wrong, that we forget to love them. People we are trying to draw to Jesus are not going to hear His message if we put them on the defensive. First, we need to have a relationship with them. We need to love them. When they feel loved and genuinely cared for, then and only then will they be open to hear about Jesus and the way He wants us to live.
2. We love others and compromise God's truth because of that love. When this happens, we begin to accept things that the Bible tells us are sinful. We compromise. We lose sight of how Jesus wants us to live. Without God's truth, love gets warped into something God never intended. Eventually, everything gets warped. And isn't our world looking pretty warped now?

So, we must love. But we also must stay rooted in God's truth. And we must speak that truth in love. May we love abundantly, and may that love be full of knowledge and discernment, just as Paul prayed.

Page Details: I used the following Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps sets: Art Deco Alpha and Fall in Love with Jesus. I also used watercolor crayons, a Micron pen, and a pencil. Yes, a pencil! Rebecca Rios shared that she uses a pencil to shadow. And I think this is an awesome tip! So, the letters are shadowed with a pencil. Whenever I try to use a gray pen, it ends up leaving a dark dot where I lift the pen up. I hate that. With the pencil- no dots! And, you can erase if you mess up. Win, win!! This month is Sweet 'n Sassy's 12th birthday! Celebrate with us by getting a 12% discount all month long!

 Have a blessed week! Andrea