Resources/Articles
What We Need Is Less Love
Before you think I am anti-love, read on. Terror and the economy appear to be the two most discussed topics of conversation. If you ask parents, children, husbands, wives, or a church what concerns them most, one of the top five answers would more than likely be LOVE. It would be the lack of it, the unwillingness to show it, or the misunderstanding of what love is. There is no question that love learned and applied is a welcomed guest in any relationship.
Notice in 2 Timothy 3:1-5 what and who is loved most. Looking at those verses, you would be shocked at the attitudes and behavior illustrated. You may consider it to be a vivid description of the attitude and behavior of many today. There is an apparent problem described in those verses - too much love.
There is too much love for SELF. Verse 2 says some were “lovers of self.” That has always been the number one hindrance to godliness. As long as our desires are our foremost concern, people will never see love’s true colors. Remember this: “love...does not seek its own” (1 Corinthians 13:5).
We need less love for MONEY and PLEASURES. MOney is said to be “the daughter of selfishness.” The love of it has drowned many in destruction and pierced the hearts of many with sorrow (1 Timothy 6:9-11). Priorities are shifted and God is no longer our first concern. Relationships suffer from lack of time, attention, and closeness. Money with the pleasures it buys has strangled the spiritual life out of those who would otherwise be faithful Christians. Why would we devote so much time to something which has such a short life span?
We need less love for the WAGES OF UNRIGHTEOUSNESS. Sin pays. It pays approval, participation, popularity, and fun. If not, why do it? Sin’s payment is brief (Hebrews 11:25). That is why it has to be done over and over again. When will people realize sin is hard (Proverbs 13:15)? God needs more people like you who will love it less before it takes you further than you want to go, keeps you longer than you want to stay, and costs you more than you want to pay.
