With Love In Your Eyes

"None of what Jesus spoke was His opinion."

I HAVE A LOT OF OPINIONS, none of which matter. This truth sits foremost between my eyes. I see it constantly. I hear it in others, or I should say, others are spouting their opinions, and all I can think is, You really shouldn’t do that. Circling the drain, isn’t this your opinion, Suzanne? Well, no, it’s God’s. His opinion is the only one that matters, and actually, it’s not an opinion, but it’s truth. All He speaks is truth.

I wrote a statement in another blog post which sticks to me right now. You can’t separate the Spirit of God from the Word of God. We’ve had this idea that at times through history man has done to the Word what he wanted, and God wasn’t involved. No, God is always involved. Some of it, He didn’t approve of, but all of it, He was there. There’s a reason this book, written by so many authors over so many years is assembled as it is, even the chapters and verses are Spirit-led, and it hasn’t been destroyed.

Men destroyed its authors, but their Words, God’s Words remain.

The gospels read differently because there are different authors, but they also read differently because the Spirit wanted different things highlighted. They actually form a pattern, many patterns, for that matter, and this is deliberate and infinite as only God could do. You could study them forever and never see all that’s detailed in there. For instance, Matthew is all about the kingdom. Mark is Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Luke is Jesus as the Son of God. John is Jesus and the Father. Ask the Spirit to show you, and He will.

But point is, we read men’s opinions in the Bible. Job did say, “The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away,” but the truth is, the Lord giveth good things and taketh away bad ones. This is who God is, not what man has made of that remark. Job was hurting right then, and if you read the book of Job, there are lots of opinions. Job’s friends said their bit, most of it wrong. The Pharisees had their say to Jesus in the gospels as well. We read their murderous hate and see how blind they were to who Jesus is. They did try to back Him into a corner, full of their opinions about the Law. It didn’t work.

And we’re back to the Holy Ghost. The one who conceived Jesus in the womb of Mary, without the use of man, who anointed Jesus without measure, had all the answers He would need, and Jesus learned to listen. It’s unfathomable really because none of what Jesus spoke was His opinion. He laid His opinion aside to speak the Father’s words. He laid His feelings aside and the temptations of sin which surrounded Him on every side to do the Father’s work. He was entirely sold out, completely obedient.

Would that we’d do the same and make of this hash we’ve scrambled on our daily plate something edible, palatable, for those around us. That we could back up and see the pattern the Holy Spirit has laid out in us and marvel. Instead of a string of footprints we made trompling all over God’s Word. Our opinions of other people has no place in us. For anyone. What we think of how people act, eat, preach needs to stay in our pocket. Jesus died for you. He died for them. He rose again for everyone.

Hatred eats at culture, gender, sexuality, age, education, language, doctrine, denomination, and a million other things. Love blends it all together yet leaves us individually intact. Salvation makes us elbows and fingernails, kneecaps and ankles, hearts and stomachs and eyeballs with Jesus as the Head. We become the body of Christ perfectly placed where we can benefit each other, encourage all of us, and spread the gospel to the world. The good news about Jesus. Hatred makes us broken. Frankly, it rips the meaning out of everything else we might say. Ten words of truth spoken kindly vanish into thin air after one spoken in hate. Forgiveness is for all, but sometimes, the damage is done, and then there’s a new battle. Listening. I have to love someone who is w-r-o-n-g in what they said to the same extent God loves them, without any condemnation and so full of love that I’d die to save them.

“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13)

God does not whisper in my ear about your sin and call it prophecy. Pull the beam out of your eye. He isn’t going to prophecy your destruction. Jesus came to provide grace, and grace speaks only words of love. Love is longsuffering and kind. It does not envy, show arrogance and pride, or behave in any manner that smacks of anger and hate and evil. It rejoices only in the truth, being willing to bear all things, believe all things, and endure all things that it encounters in the same manner as God who is our example of love.

We must keep love before our eyes. It must become part of us to hear our opinion before it is spoken and reject it. We must hear the opinions of others and love them anyway without making a face or a remark. Jesus died for the Pharisees with their hatred ringing in His ears. He died for the thief, hanging at His side. He didn’t ask him to recount his crime first. We must be so much like Jesus that when the enemy looks at us, it sees Him and can’t tell the difference, or else all that armor we’ve been given goes to waste.

State the Word, not your opinion. Offer to pray instead of complaining. Don’t get together to gossip but to intercede in the Spirit and to read the Scriptures. Be as fervent about integrity as you used to be about what you really shouldn’t say.

“Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.” (Psalms 119:165)

“So then, make it your top priority to live a life of peace with harmony in your relationships, eagerly seeking to strengthen and encourage one another. Stop ruining the work of God by insisting on your own opinions about food. You can eat anything you want, but it is wrong to deliberately cause someone to be offended over what you eat.” (Romans 14:19-20, TPT)

“And always live in peace with each other.” (1 Thessalonians 5:13)

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay


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Suzanne D. Williams, Author
www.suzannedwilliams.com
www.feelgoodromance.com