Our blogs from local Christians continue on the theme of ‘what is true love’? Simon Cockshutt considers the authenticity of love, and how we can look to demonstrate that to those around us by ‘looking to the rock from which we are hewn’…
“I think these days we are hungry for authenticity. So much about our culture and politics is so fake and superficial that we long for the genuine version of something. We want people we can trust around us. People who “get us” and don’t undermine us. I think the first passage is a call to arms to remind us that if we want this from other people we need to be like that ourselves. It’s no good expecting one standard from them and being ‘flakey’ ourselves.
“Love must be completely sincere. Hate what is evil, hold on to what is good.”
Romans 12:9 GNT
The word itself “Love” is elusive in meaning. When we use it it can have four or five shades of meaning, But for our love to flourish, as it is meant to, God wants it to be deeply anchored in what is good. We need therefore to keep him in sight trying to to let his love rule our lives and our behaviours.
It isn’t easy and we must be realistic about it and acknowledge that every now and then we will fail and people we know quite well will also fail. By holding onto “the good” we see beyond our failures and acknowledge that the human heart is born to be noble. The good in people mostly outweighs the evil they do. As it says in the gospel of John “the light is stronger than the darkness.”
“Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness and who seek the Lord: Look to the rock from which you were cut and to the quarry from which you were hewn”
Isaiah 51:1 NIV
Simon lives in Ipswich and works in London. He is a member of Burlington Baptist Church where he is a Trustee. He believes passionately in prayer and is involved with leading Ipswich Men in Prayer.
