Rugged Faith & Steadfast Love

Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also;
The body they may kill: God’s truth abideth still,
His kingdom is forever.
- Martin Luther, A Mighty Fortress is our God

I hadn't felt that much physical pain in a while. My reaction was immediate: a swelling warmth in my gut, the racing heart, clenched teeth and a furrowed brow, a weakness in my hands, a rising anger toward the inanimate object that folded my left big toenail in half, and a fury to repay it or something nearby with my fist. But right at that moment, I thought "what if a person just did that? What if some person just did that to me willingly and said, calmly, 'Deny Christ, or I'll do it again.'?" Did I have the steadfast faith to say "Never! Do it again if you must-I will not lose my highest treasure." And what's more, did I have enough love to then look him in the face and say-from my heart-"I forgive you. I love you. God loves you. Be blessed." The answer was unsettling: "I don't know."

Romans 12:14 (ESV) reads "Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them." This 'blessing' for our persecutors is not a mere word; it is a genuine, heart-deep desire for their betterment-or it is not real. My first reaction was to yell-about as close to a swear as my conscience allowed-and then I reached down to fold my toenail back into place. (I tend to like things to stay where they belong.) The pain eventually subsided, and I went about my day.

But I kept thinking about the state of my heart; could I have not only not cursed, but proactively blessed, a person who did that to me intentionally, and with the intention of repeating it all night long until either I recanted or died, or he grew weary? Impossible, I thought. It's not natural. It's not my built-in response.

Some may have the faith to endure without recanting. But our Master requires more of us: love is the command, and Paul said "Even if I give my body to be burned [as a martyr], if I have not love, it will profit me nothing." [1 Corinthians 13:3, ESV] And the love I think he's talking about is love for the guy who senteced him to death, for the one who tied him up to the stake, for the one who smiled as he lit the wood around his feet, and looked on with pleasure as he burned alive.

How do we get this faith, and this love? I am certainly unable to force it from myself: "How can a bad tree yield good fruit?" Jesus said, "You must be born again." [John 3:7, ESV] This kind of faith and love does not come from a focused willpower, or a determination of mind. It is not a 'choice.' It is divine. We must be born again; we must receive a new nature from the Spirit of God-His nature. "That which is born of the flesh is flesh; that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." [John 3:6, ESV], "It is the Spirit that gives life; the flesh profits nothing." [KJV/ESV hybrid] And once received, we must cultivate and care for that new life. We must nourish it in the Word and Worship, we must let it breathe in prayer-or it won't grow. And it may never achieve faith or love of this kind.

So what about you? Do you have this kind of faith and this kind of love? Don't answer now-we tend to be too optimistic while comfortable; instead answer the next time you jam your finger or rip a nail or feel some kind of pain. Ask that very moment "what if someone just did that to me intentionally to get me to recant? Would I? Could I love him?" "Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith." [2 Cor. 13:5a]

Rugged faith and steadfast love: our Master requires them of us. Do you have them? Have you been born again? Have you cultivated that new life today? Everything depends on it-eternity depends on it-and nothing else truly matters.

Suggested Reading:
Matthew 5, ESV
John 3:1-10, ESV
Romans 12:9-21, ESV
Jonathan Edwards, Resolution #10