Obviously in a world that is falling apart and “groaning” (Romans 8:22) something has gone haywire!
Why do so many lives end up in a mess (physically, financially, emotionally or spiritually)? I think about it a lot, especially in relation to what goes on in the market place. While there are likely to be many causes, one stands out above all others: love, or rather, the lack thereof.
1 John 4:16 states that “…God is love: and he that dwells in love dwells in God and God in him”
There are nine different meanings for ‘love’ in the Bible! This verse refers to agape or unconditional love; that is, the self-sacrificing love of God for humanity (John 3:16); in turn, we are to reciprocate love towards God and to one another (Matthew 22:37-39; 1 John 4:19).
Why then is receiving God’s love and loving others so difficult?I contend that one key reason has to do with upbringing; another with the state of our nation…
Proverbs 22:6 and Ephesians 6:4 confirm that it is the parent’s role to raise their children in the ways of the Lord. BUT if the parents don’t know His ways they obviously can’t teach their children…so the children miss out; a weekly RE lesson at school helps but it’s not the same!
Couple this with life in Australia over the last 60 or so years. Two wars and a depression ‘damaged’ our people; but post-WW2 growth and boom in consumerism, rising national wealth and the emergent welfare state also had a huge impact. In a few short years, life went from survival mode to one best described as profligate, hedonistic, egocentric; indeed, we become a nation of supplicants.
Sadly for so many people during these times, two things happened…
1. God was not needed so the churches emptied; Sunday school died out and the Bible was shunned as a work of fiction. Life in Australia became exactly what Paul described in Romans 1:29-32 & 2 Timothy 3:1-4 and a self-centred, loveless culture emerged (yet how great is the Aussie spirit when there is an emergency).
2. In many families the children were nurtured in a competitive, loveless environment…yes, there was food on the table, a warm bed and a degree of security, but unconditional love was missing because God was not in the home; (the words “I love you” were rarely, if ever, heard) dad was busy working (lots of overtime, consumer debt & mortgages were easy to get but had to be repaid); mum was ‘left’ to raise the children. How many of these children now ‘compare’ Father God with their worldly father…and find both wanting? How many of these children’s children are in the same boat?
Ultimately a price had to be paid because “…God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap” (Galatians 6:7). The saddest aspect of the price we are now paying is the fruit of lovelessness (as Jesus said it would in Matthew 24:12). Today, most Australians have no concept of the agape love of God; the only love, if any, they know is worldly or ‘conditional’ love; and when the conditions are not met the love dissolves. That’s when, and why, things go awry.
Peter, for the Kingdom Builders team
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