ON LOVE; PART MCXCVII
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GoodWill IS Love in Action
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FIRST IS THE GREAT COMMANDMENTS: “The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:29-31).
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WHAT THEN IS LOVE? In a general sense love is benevolence, good will; that disposition of heart which inclines men to think favorably of their fellow men, and to do them good. In a theological sense, it includes supreme love to God, and universal good will to men. While this IS from an older definition of Charity, which IS rendered in the King James Bible from the same Greek word agape which IS generally rendered as Love, we should amend our own definition here to include the idea that in the reality of Love a man will accord to ALL men ALL things that he would accord to himself and to say that Love IS our thoughts and attitude of the equality of ALL men regardless of their outward nature or appearance…that ALL ARE equally children of Our One God
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PLUS THE EVER IMPORTANT AND HIGH IDEAL TAUGHT TO US BY THE CHRIST: “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them” (Matthew 7:12).
We ended the last essay by beginning a deeper analysis of the words used by the Apostle Paul to describe Love which IS rendered in our selection as charity from the Greek word agape. Paul’s words here, in what IS become the thirteenth chapter of his First Epistle to the Corinthians, begin with his telling us of the importance of Love, of agape, as a Christian ideal by relegating ALL seemingly important Christian ‘signs’ to lesser positions with comments that show us that to be able to speak in tongues, to be able to prophesy, and even to be philanthropic ARE of NO value spiritually if one’s expression IS NOT agape.
While the rendering of agape as charity can be more clearly understood from the older dictionaries as we cite above, the reality of such charity DOES NOT come across in our modern understanding of the rendered words charity or Love. Both have taken on the modern ideas; Love as the mental and emotional attraction and attachment to others and to things and charity as: generous actions or donations to aid the poor, ill, or helpless 7. Both of these defining ideas totally miss the mark that IS the Truth of agape as this word IS intended in the bible.
But men DO NOT see the reality of this Love as the Way to Truly find the Lord and this despite Paul’s most clear way of presenting agape as that Way. Aside from their doctrinal views, much of the problem has ever been in men’s understanding of just what Love IS; and it IS likely because of the lack of spiritual force in the common idea of Love that the King James translators chose the idea of charity in these verses from Paul. Our paraphrase of the definition of charity from Webster’s 1828 dictionary, while closer to the Truth, DOES NOT yet reflect the Truth of agape as it IS so much more than that definition that says of charity: In a general sense charity is love, benevolence, good will; that disposition of heart which inclines men to think favorably of their fellow men, and to do them good 1. Repeating Paul’s words again, we substitute agape for the translated word charity; we read:
“Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not agape, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not agape, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not agape, it profiteth me nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:1-3).
“Agape suffereth long, and is kind; agape envieth not; agape vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Agape never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away” (1 Corinthians 13:4-8).
With much hindsight, it IS easy to say that this word agape should have NOT have been translated into Love as its deeper meaning IS lost among the various Greek words that also have that rendering and a more carnal perspective. It IS in agape that we find the True definition of that idea that IS seen by some as the ‘God kind of Love’ but even this idea IS become trite, it has lost its deeper meanings in the doctrinal ideas that even God’s Love for man operates in a carnal setting. It IS here that we should try to see that there IS NOTHING that IS Truly from “the Father of lights“, as the Apostle James calls the Lord, that IS carnal and that it IS in their carnal sense that so many Christians teach and believe that such things of the world will come in prayer and that nebulous idea of believing.
When we read James words saying that “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning” (James 1:17) we should understand that the context that the apostle offers us IS found in the previous verses and in the idea that “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him” (James 1:17, 5). And we should connect ALL of the dots here; first we resist the carnal temptations that ARE temptations to ALL things carnal; second that it IS in the Wisdom that comes in men’s revelations and realizations that IS the Wisdom from God….from the God and Christ Within.
Third we should see that James IS equalizing men; he IS showing us to “Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted….But the rich, in that he is made low” (James 1:9, 10) and we should see the idea of wealth here as but an example as we should in the apostle’s later words on Love, words which show us to have NO “respect to persons” (James 2:9). Finally we should see the connection that James forges for us, the connection between getting such Wisdom from “the Father of lights” in revelation and realization which IS “Every good gift” and the reality that men should “be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves“. It IS this that IS “the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls” (James 1:22, 21).
This brings us to the Greek word hupomone which IS rendered as patience in contrast to the word makrothumia which IS translated as the same idea. James tells us to “count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing” (James 1:2-4) as he begins this discussion which ends in his admonition that we “be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves“. Here, in a most personal sense, the idea of patience IS a steadfastness of which Thayer tells us that this IS: the characteristic of a man who is unswerved from his deliberate purpose and his loyalty to faith and piety by even the greatest trials and sufferings .
This idea of hupomone, while NOT fitting with the common understanding of the translated word patience, IS closer to the idea intended than that which we find in makrothumia which we discussed in the last essay where this word IS used to describe agape as “Agape suffereth long“. This idea of long-suffering IS rendered as patience by several as well as in those plaques and wedding ceremonies that use Paul’s idea as it were focused upon Love between specific persons. To be sure, the idea of patience as this IS commonly understood, as: an ability or willingness to suppress restlessness or annoyance when confronted with delay or as: tolerant and even-tempered perseverance 7, fails against what IS intended by both Paul and James.
And while the Webster’s 1828 version shows us the defining idea of patience as: The suffering of afflictions, pain, toil, calamity, provocation or other evil, with a calm, unruffled temper; endurance without murmuring or fretfulness. Patience may spring from constitutional fortitude, from a kind of heroic pride, or from christian submission to the divine will , this perception IS NO longer True. Hence the idea of hupomone should be steadfastness on a personal level while makrothumia should NOT but should be understood as a more universal defining quality of agape.
The point here IS that the patience that James speaks of IS a personal spiritual virtue in a man that makes him unswerved from his deliberate purpose and his loyalty to faith and piety and NOT the carnal ideas that many apply; this IS a steadfastness of focus that DOES NOT waver from the things of God as the apostle goes on to show us. James tells us a succinct Truth regarding the intimate relationship between one’s focus upon the things of God and the Wisdom that comes in that focus and while men may believe that the idea that “Every good gift and every perfect gift” includes the carnal ‘blessings’ of things, the reality IS that here and throughout the New Testament this ‘blessing’ IS Wisdom.
And what IS this Wisdom but the revelations and the realizations that come in the Presence of God in one’s Life, in the effect of having the Christ and God Within be the motivation for ALL one’s thoughts and attitudes which ARE perforce thoughts and attitudes of Love. James’ lesson here IS one of focus and that in this focus on the things of God one will desire ONLY those things of which Wisdom IS primary. James tells us “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God” and if we can see the idea here of asking from the Greek word aiteo in terms of spiritual desire, we can then have a better picture of the dynamic at play.
There IS however a caveat here that must be understood when desiring such things from God as Wisdom and James makes this perfectly clear saying “But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways” (James 1:6-8). Can we see the point here? And can we see the way that hupomone as steadfastness enters into the reality of focus? James IS showing us that “every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed” (James 1: 14) and that it IS steadfastness in focus that can differentiate between those things of the world toward which one IS tempted and “Every good gift and every perfect gift“.
And we should understand also that there IS NO waiting involved in this idea of hupomone as the rendering of this in terms of patience may suggest; nor IS there the common understanding of waiting in the other Greek word that we have been studying, makrothumia. This idea of makrothumia as an aspect of Love should be seen as a more universal concept which shows us that agape IS as well steadfast but more importantly it IS the result of the ideas that James shows us using hupomone. Without the steadfast focus upon the things of God, the Truth and the reality of agape DO NOT impact the minds of men; they DO NOT see the deeper realities that this word agape reveals.
We should understand here that the reality of agape,while lost in the vanity, in the illusion and the glamour, can begin to be understood when the idea IS revealed to the carnal mind and that it IS this reality of agape that DOES begin to turn a man’s focus away from the self and the things of the self and onto the things of God. We should understand here as well that one’s sense of agape may NOT enable a man to see the spiritual aspects directly but most assuredly indirectly as one’s expression becomes increasingly in line with Love for one’s fellow man regardless of that person’s definition of that Love. This sense of agape IS found in the reality of GoodWill which IS the activity of agape in this world.
The Advent of the Christ was the beginning of the spiritual emphasis on agape in the world of men; this was the Master’s teaching which can be seen as His singular admonition throughout the gospels. And it IS this same idea of agape that colors the clarifying and amplifying of His words by His apostles and while this IS NOT the doctrinal view, this IS largely because of the defining understanding applied to agape as Love. For 2000 years the idea of GoodWill and Universal Love have been obnubilated by the carnal desires of men who DID NOT realize that they DID “lack wisdom” and in that state they DID NOT “ask of God“.
Save for the few whose focus IS Truly upon the things of God, the many have ONLY the “wisdom of this world” of which Paul tells us that “the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness” (1 Corinthians 3:19). And it IS this craftiness that plays its hand in most ALL arenas of the Life in this world; in religion and in politics this craftiness IS on full display as both seek to divide men according to whatsoever sense of allegiance they may have. It IS this craftiness that continually overwhelms the sincere efforts at GoodWill that have come upon mankind and it IS this craftiness that prolongs the carnal ideas of race, religion, culture, ALL diversities of men, in prejudices and outward hatred of those who appear and who think differently.
And this returns us to the greater ideas which we should try to see in makrothumia as we try to understand that this IS so much more than patience and longsuffering. Makrothumia IS used by the Apostle Peter who tells us that the Lord “is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” and if we can see this idea in terms of agape rather than patient waiting for men to Repent, we can then better understand this word idea. If we can see here that this sense of makrothumia IS an active understanding of the Truth of men which God has and compound this idea of activity with James’ words on the husbandman, that while he “waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth” he IS at the same time actively working toward gaining that fruit, then we can more easily see how that this IS Truly an aspect of agape….of the active expression by men of agape in this world.
To understand this idea of makrothumia in terms of an expression of Love, of agape, IS the intent of the apostle and since this expression of agape IS intended to be universal, toward ALL men, it must perforce be that sense of understanding which results in GoodWill toward ALL. This understanding sees past the differences that encompass ALL humanity and which will eventually see ONLY the Unity in that diversity; this understanding works without fear and without prejudice and with a KNOWING that as Souls we ARE ALL the same regardless of our appearance, our thoughts and attitudes or our actions.
This understanding sees the enemy and the friend in the same Light, it DOES NOT distinguish between the rich and the poor….it treats them equally; this idea of makrothumia IS the primary architect of having NO “respect to persons“. Paul shows us this in his words to the Thessalonians saying “we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feebleminded, support the weak, be patient toward all men. See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men” (1 Thessalonians 5:14-15).
Here makrothumia IS rendered as being patient but we should see some of the defining qualities of makrothumia in the preceding ideas of warning, which can be better understood as exhorting, comforting and supporting those who have NOT yet the ability to see the greater Truths that ARE the things of God. Can we see that the deeper implications of this idea that “Agape suffereth long” shows us that Love sees past ALL difference and divisions and offers an active expression of agape to ALL with NO “respect to persons“.
And can we see that this idea IS a reflection of the Master’s teaching on Love from such words as “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you” and how this relates to the Way of the Lord who “maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew 5:45-45). This brings us again to our trifecta where we should understand that the things of God, the sense of Love and the Wisdom, come to the man who will keep His words and, by measure, to the man who will strive to DO so; it IS makrothumia that comes to every man in the revelations and the realization of Truth that come in so DOING. We read again:
- “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free“ (John 8:31-32).
- “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21).
- “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me” (John 14:21-24).
Thayer tells us that makrothumia IS: to be of a long spirit, not to lose heart 9, and it IS these ideas that ARE turned into patience with the idea of being patient with them that would DO one harm of any kind. While Paul admonishes us NOT to “render evil for evil unto any man“, the greater meaning of his idea IS found in his admonishment to “ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men“; it IS this that should be read with “be patient toward all men” and NOT the more negative idea that turns makrothumia personal.
What IS to be of a long spirit? It IS to let the Inner man, the Soul, the Christ and God Within, reach out into the Life of the man in this world in understanding that ALL ARE One and ALL ARE the same….Souls on the long journey toward being “delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8:21). This IS the Life of ALL men which IS hidden in the corruption, in the vanity, that IS Life in this world; and this IS the previous Life even of the saints. And we should NOT think that such corruption IS evil in human terms; nor should we think that such vanity IS those things as doctrines point out as sin.
This vanity and this corruption to which ALL men ARE subjected both IS, and IS the cause of, the illusion and the glamour through with men’s focus IS upon themselves and the interests of the self in this world. and to be delivered, to be made free, of this IS to Love which IS to express agape through makrothumia. We should remember that to be delivered and to be made free ARE from the same Greek word eleutheroo and we should see this as the Master shows us in our trifecta saying that “the truth shall make you free“.
It IS ever the revelation and realization of Truth that frees a man from his own “bondage of corruption” and in one’s freedom it IS makrothumia that IS his ability to see those who have NOT yet gained such freedom as he would have wanted to be seen when he was in such peril. Paul shows us a picture of this idea, which we present in the more simply stated Young’s Literal Translation, saying
“Also you — being dead in the trespasses and the sins, in which once ye did walk according to the age of this world, according to the ruler of the authority of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all did walk once in the desires of our flesh, doing the wishes of the flesh and of the thoughts, and were by nature children of wrath — as also the others, and God, being rich in kindness, because of His great love with which He loved us, even being dead in the trespasses, did make us to live together with the Christ, (by grace ye are having been saved)” (Ephesians 2;1-5).
The point here IS the apostle’s acknowledgement that he and those to whom he writes, to “the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 1:1), DID at one time suffer the same affliction as DOES the rest of humanity who has NOT found this grace which comes from God to those whose focus IS on God. It IS to these that Love IS to be expressed universally and those who have Truly moved out of their own “bondage of corruption” DO understand this and see that they must see ALL men the same in that understanding. This IS agape as makrothumia and this IS the foundation of the expression of that Love with NO “respect to persons“.
We will continue with our thoughts in the next post.
| Aspect |
Potency |
Aspect of Man |
In Relation to the Great Invocation |
In relation to the Christ |
|
GOD, The Father |
Will or Power |
Spirit or Life |
Center where the Will of God IS KNOWN |
Life |
|
Son, The Christ |
Love and Wisdom |
Soul or Christ Within |
Heart of God |
Truth |
| Holy Spirit |
Light or Activity |
Life Within |
Mind of God |
Way |
Note on the Quote of the Day
This daily blog also has a Quote of the Day which may not be in any way related to the essay. Many of these will be from the Bible and some just prayers or meditations that may have an influence on you and are in line with the subject matter of this blog. As the quote will change daily and will not store with the post, it is repeated in this section with the book reference and comment.
We change our Quote of the Day today to the words from Solomon on Wisdom along with our thoughts on them from the original postings of them in In the Words of Jesus parts 46 and 556. These words ARE a testament to those things that we should be asking of the Lord and which are representative of the Holy Ghost. Wisdom, understanding and knowledge which will lead us to understanding the fear (reverence and respect and awe) of the Lord and the knowledge of God so that in this world we can understand righteousness and judgement and equity and be preserved by discretion and understanding. Thus are we in a position to treat everyone as we would want to be treated ourselves.
Since we are centered on the ideas of Wisdom today we offer the following from Proverbs as our Quote of the Day. Solomon, who is KNOWN for his Wisdom, which we read in the story of his Life was His gift from God, a gift that he receives because he does not want for the things of the world. But Solomon gains as well the things of the world in plenty and as his Life story proceeds we can see clearly that it is his Life in the world that is to his detriment. The wisdom however produces for us the writings of the Book of Proverbs and it is this that he is remembered for. His Life is interesting reading and is well documented in the Books of Kings and Chronicles.
….incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding; Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God. For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding. He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a buckler to them that walk uprightly. He keepeth the paths of judgment, and preserveth the way of his saints. Then shalt thou understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity; yea, every good path. When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul; Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee (Proverbs 2:2-11).
Let the peace of God rule in your hearts
- 1 Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 1828 and 1913 from https://1828.mshaffer.com/
- 4 Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition
- 7 Dictionary.com Unabridged based on Random House Dictionary – 2011
- 9 Thayer’s Greek Lexicon on blueletterbible.org
Those who walk on the well-trodden path always throw stones at those who are showing a new road.
Voltaire,
Writer and Philosopher
