Why walking in love doesn’t mean “being nice”
“And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight.”
The Love of God
God’s love can’t be contained. By nature, it must flow to others. However, like every aspect of God’s character, it doesn’t exist alone. God’s love isn’t separate from his wisdom or his truth. Truth transforms, but sharing God’s Word apart from his love divorces it from meaning, becoming more abusive than life-giving. For God’s love to be explosive in our lives, it must remain connected to the whole—his peace, his joy, and the rest.
As followers of Jesus, he disciples us for a purpose. First, to be more like him, the Son of the Father. Second, as such, Christ teaches us how to rule and reign in the current and future Kingdom of God. We are his children, and this is our inheritance.
Love Abounds in Knowledge & Insight
The Greek word for knowledge:
The Greek word for knowledge here is epignōsis, which refers to experiential knowledge.
"Insight" in the Greek:
“Depth of insight” is aisthēsis, a word rare in the New Testament, but it means sensitive perception for moral understanding and wisdom.
God’s love through us to others abounds when we experience the Father more and apply insight from the Spirit in our words and actions.
The Truth of God's Love
Beholding God, seeing him as he is, that intimate experience leads to greater spiritual understanding, which we share in love. In other words, our love isn’t being “nice.” God’s love expresses truth for the transformation of others, not to win an argument or gain followers on social media. Love seeks the eternal best of all, and speaking the truth in love is explosive in its impact, like Jesus’ words to the woman at the well. May we behold him and learn to do the same.
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