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Show Notes

With all this talk about love, the question arises, “So what can we do to love as we should?” I mean, if we could just be given some quick and easy steps… the world would be a better place, right? Here’s the rub, we don’t all love in the same way. We are unique individuals with different needs and different views of what it means to be loving. So… what can we do? That is what we are going to explore here in episode10.

My name is Charles, and this is the Simple Not Shallow Podcast. A podcast for those who want a deeper faith, not a confusing one. That is what our name is about, keeping faith in Christ simple enough for a child like me to understand it and yet, not so shallow that when the storms of life hit, our faith runs aground. Here we go 

So… steps to take… I think I have found a good illustration of the problem of steps to take from the world of physical fitness. Say you want to get in shape and the trainer you go to says that the best way to get in overall good shape is to run. And he sets up a series of steps for you to take in order to get in shape by running. Week 1, run for 1/8 of a mile, and you will do this every other day. Week 2, run for ¼ of a mile. Week 3, ½ a mile and week four ¾ of a mile. And so on until you are able to run a marathon and be in great physical shape. This is a good series of steps to take. Granted a bit simplified, but this is an illustration and not a training program and it does highlight the problem with steps. What problem? The problem is this, how do these steps help one get in shape if they have bad knees and can’t run? Aren’t there other ways in which that person can get physically fit? Of course, there are.

How does this apply to learning how to love? One of the most amazing, enriching, and infuriating things I have experienced, in terms of God’s love, is that God deals with each of us as the unique individuals that we are. Meaning, that as God deals with each of us as we are and we must realize that the specifics of our lives will not always be the specifics in the lives of others. I am reminded of Jesus’ words to Peter concerning how he deals with others, “What is that to you? You follow me” (Jn 21:22).

And it is interesting that his teachings and commands always address us on levels that are deeper than that of mere action, of mere physical steps to be taken in order to reach a given end. For instance, his teaching that to be angry with a brother earns the same judgment as murder and that to look with lust is to commit adultery. (Matthew 5:21 – 28). As for a command, he says, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also love one another” (Jn 13:34). That is just about as step specific as it gets. So, what can we do?

Where do we go from here? Is there nothing to guide our way? I think there are two things we can safely say are rock-solid steps, much like, in the illustration about physical fitness, we could say that there are two rock-solid steps: to exercise and eat well. These are 1) to ask God for wisdom in learning how to love, for he gives this freely to all who ask for wisdom (James 1:5), and 2) to read the Bible. I mean, if we are asking him for wisdom, it might prove a good thing to listen to what he has to say. I know, I know… Crazy. But it might just prove informative.

For instance, check out this passage I stumbled upon. I found it in 2 Peter. In short, it says that God has given us everything we need for life and godliness. As we learned in episodes 2 and 3 of this podcast, this does involve love; loving Him and loving others. It doesn’t stop there. It also tells us what we need to be doing if we truly have accepted what God has given. We need to be adding to our faith, goodness; to goodness, knowledge; to knowledge, self-control; to self-control, perseverance; to perseverance, godliness; to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if we do this in increasing measure, we will be kept from being unproductive and ineffective in our knowledge of Jesus. If we don’t do these things, we will be near-sighted and blind. (2 Peter 1:1-11). If we do these things, we will never fail in our faith. This fits the gospel message perfectly. We come to Christ by faith, then life begins. Then we can start to learn to love (again, as we discovered in episodes 2 and 3). So, if we do these things, we will not fail to learn how. 

Notice too, that these are not steps, these go much deeper than mere actions to take. These touch on the development and growth of the new person Christ transforms us into (2 Corinthians 5:16 – 18). It’s about the development of character, of us as individuals as we grow in our relationship with God. And as we grow not only will we not stumble in our faith; we will also be partakers in God’s divine nature (2 Peter 1:4). Which, resonates as true in light of John 15, the chapter about abiding in, remaining in Christ and his love. If we remain in his love, we will keep his commands, which is to love (John 15: 8 – 12). Doesn’t that make you head spin? And I’m not done yet.

For I also stumbled on to something quite intriguing in the book of Job. Yea, Job, the Old Testament. Oh yeah. In the passage I found, God tells Job to man up in order to have a conversation with Him (Job 38:3). A slight paraphrase, but isn’t that profound. “Man up Job and we’ll talk.” It seems that what we need to do is to become grown-ups. As mature adults we are to seek God’s promised wisdom and help in working out the salvation he has put in us; that is to work out how to love both him and our neighbors. 

I find it interesting, that in almost every other area of life, we as grown-ups do not need everything explicitly spelled out for us. Indeed, we can get more than annoyed at someone for doing so for us. We can, do, and even like to connect the dots and fill in the blanks with other things we have learned.

Perhaps God has given the list in 2 Peter in honor of this. Perhaps, as they are pondered and applied, he expects us to connect the dots, fill in the blanks, and learn how to love those he puts in our path. Perhaps by giving us this list, he is also giving us the wisdom and help we need to do so. What an intriguing thought.

Well, what do you think? I’d love to hear from you, so please, go to simplenotshallow.com, and under the Simple Not Shallow Podcast section, find this episode, #10, and leave a comment for me there. Also, in the show notes, I’ll list all the verses I referenced, in the order and at the location in the transcript at which I referenced them. That way you can check me out to make sure I’m not totally in left field.  Also, please take a second to rate this episode and subscribe to this podcast through iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify… or whichever service you use. Thank you. I’ll catch you next time.