Humble Love
November 2, 2007 by Randy
Filed under Christianity, Prayer
My Thoughts After The Jump (emphasis mine)
Romans 12:9-21 (NLT)
9 Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. 10 Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. 11 Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically. 12 Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying. 13 When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality.
14 Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them. 15 Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all!
17 Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. 18 Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.
19 Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say,
“I will take revenge; I will pay them back,” says the Lord.
20 Instead,
“If your enemies are hungry, feed them. If they are thirsty, give them something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals of shame on their heads.”
21 Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.
You know one might need a lesson in Humble Love when after reading the above scripture you get stuck meditating on ways to heap coals of shame on somebody’s head.
Not saying that is what happened to me. I am not not saying that either … I am just sayin’ … 
::: laugh :::
Earlier today I was reading a very hate filled blog. I was not angry … ok, maybe a teensy bit angry. In reality, I was more confused about the unanswerable "why?" behind their motivations. I was meditating on it and verse 14 (above) is what popped into my head. So instead of contemplating the "why" of someone else’s anger, I prayed blessings for that person.
As for the "heaping coals of shame" bit… I mean you know … if it were something I felt convicted about 
… that is not in my control and should not be the end goal. To focus on that throws out the context of the above scriptures. The Lord is obviously making it clear that we don’t sit on the seat of justice. He does. Our default is to love, pray for and serve, as best as possible, where possible. Not only that but to do so with eagerness, persistence and genuine goodness/love.
God is the one to take vengeance. Is it weird that I want to say "YAY God!"? I am still human. I mean the scripture above makes it obvious that justice has come and is coming and He is the one to do it. It also does not say that it is reserved for judgement day. One thing I do know that is different, is that God’s justice is always right and good. It is always with the intent of stewarding a person toward Christ and His atonement. Vengeance and punishment are not God’s goal (IMHO), From what I have seen in the whole of scriptures, His goal is to lead people to repentance and salvation.
Think of this; before Adam and Eve ate from the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil, they were created to love and serve God and each other. That is inherent to their (our) makeup as Image Bearers of God. However, they did "fall" and eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Something they were to never have done because God specifically told them NO on that one. They did eat from that tree, and as a result … we, have been blinded to an innate supernatural sacrificial love by a "knowledge" of something that we cannot, were not, meant to bear. Instead of expanding in our created design, we are confined by a self imposed sense of determining good and evil. This imposition was not and cannot be confined to the human soul…that’s the "why" behind all of the chaos in the myriad of conflicting worldviews on the planet.
I am not a theologian, or the son of one, but from what I do know, the above scriptures seems to be an effort to restore us to our created intent of serving, genuine love, humility and empathy. It seems to be saying that we can be released from a burden we were never meant to bear.
It is humble love and the work of the Spirit that brings about the means necessary to lead a person to freedom from their own acts of injustice to themselves and others.
Somehow knowing that He will bring about justice is freeing to love and serve regardless of whether it is received or not … regardless of injustice. It is in prayer and meditation that we are reminded of His eternal care. No longer carrying the weight of vengeance and evil as an option, we are free to operate in humble love.
And as always I reserve the right to be wrong … thoughts?
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