A few years ago, I was listening to Christian radio, in my car, and heard a song from a group called For King and Country. I had no background information about them, so there were no judgments on their theology nor leanings whether culturally "right" or "left." I brought no prejudices to the moment and just focused on what they were singing.
The song began somberly and slowly (kind of melancholy) but grabbed my attention quickly. It was about LOVE - the Christian kind. As it progressed, I found it convicting and troubling at the same time. The one clear message in the song that stood out was a monologue lifted straight from Scripture.
This is what I heard:
"If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate.
If I speak God's Word with power, revealing all of His mysteries and making everything plain as day,
And if I have faith that says to a mountain, 'Jump,' and it jumps, but I don't love, I'm nothing.
If I give all I own to the poor or even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've got nowhere.
So, no matter what I say, no matter what I believe, no matter what I do, I'm bankrupt without love." 1 Corinthians 13:1-7.
When it was over, I remember feeling sick to my stomach. At the time, I hadn't been truly born-again; I suffered from what some term as a pharisaical problem - being religious with no "Holy Spirit." I could "talk the talk" and discuss the Bible for hours, but when it came to LOVE, I questioned everything about myself - my faith, understanding, and the authenticity of my salvation.
In hindsight, this experience was profoundly sublime - at the time, devastating! I pondered for what seemed like an eternity the very idea that I had no true understanding of REAL Biblical love. At some point, I went to Scripture to get its definition (albeit an intellectual understanding).
This is what I read:
"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." 1 Corinthians 13:4-7.
When I read these words about godly love, it brought me straight back to one powerful, impactful verse I'd never forget. "For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart." Hebrews 4:12.
I had been pierced, and God was fully aware of my thoughts and intentions. There was no veneer with God, no escape. I didn't even want an escape. I needed rescue by a mighty Savior. And here I was - working my way into heaven with a love that can only be characterized as worldly love.
What does worldly love look like?
It's affectionate, affirming, accepting, approving, intimate, passionate, caring. And the list goes on. It's driven heavily by emotions and has no "higher moral authority" other than self. It also seeks to control or manipulate others while cloaked in "love for the greater good." What worldly love yields is self-esteem, self-confidence, self-love, self-determination, and the power of positive thinking, in essence - a world without the need for a Savior.
I remember reading a verse about the truth of the human heart that resonated and burned right into my frontal lobes. "The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately sick; who can understand it?" Jeremiah 17:9. Again, I knew this was the most in-depth look into the human heart I'd ever seen as I believed this Biblical truth.
My willpower and flesh to love were on hyper-overdrive. It was an atrocious uphill climb, a mountain that wouldn't "jump" no matter how hard I tried. Eventually, by God's amazing grace, I was saved. It was nothing short of a miracle! And because of His promise, I could see, from the indwelling Holy Spirit, a worldview from a Biblical perspective. In time, God gave me a heart of flesh and removed the heart of stone that felt immovable and impossible. In Scripture, Jesus talks about salvation in this way, "With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Matthew 19:26.
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