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Pathways Through Paul
Daily Devotional
August 17
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Today's Pathway:
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We are continuing with Paul's description of Biblical love. At the end of verse 5 he writes, "thinketh no evil". The primary idea of the word "thinketh" is "to take an inventory". It is also translated as "impute", "number", "reason", and "reckon". The basic concept is to think about something in a detailed and logical manner, and could be illustrated by a bookkeeper and his ledger. Richard Lenski showed how this is applicable to Biblical love when he wrote,
"Love keeps no account book for the entry of wrongs on the debit side which are eventually to be balanced on the credit side with payments received when satisfaction is obtained for these wrongs. Love forgets to charge any wrong done to itself. It is neither enraged at the moment, nor does it hold a grudge in vindictiveness afterward."
In addition to not holding a grudge, true love does not automatically assume that someone else is wrong or in sin. Matthew Henry put it this way:
"True love is not apt to be jealous and suspicious; it will hide faults that appear, and draw a veil over them, instead of hunting and raking out those that lie covered and concealed: it will never indulge suspicion without proofs, but will rather incline to darken and disbelieve evidence against the person it affects. It will hardly give into an ill opinion of another, and it will do it with regret and reluctance when the evidence cannot be resisted; hence it will never be forward to suspect ill, and reason itself into a bad opinion upon mere appearances, nor give way to suspicion without any."
This does not mean that sin should be overlooked or swept under the carpet. Sin must always be dealt with. However, it does mean that we should not make assumptions about another's guilt without knowing all the facts. The presumption of innocence is supposed to apply in a court of law, and it should apply in the believer's court of opinion concerning his brother in Christ as well.
Verse 6 says that love responds in an appropriate manner when certain circumstances take place in the lives of others. How do we respond when a fellow Christian commits sin? Proverbs 24:17 states,
"Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth."
If a Christian should not rejoice when his enemy falls, he certainly should not rejoice when his brother falls. Yet sometimes we do, particularly if our brother maybe rubs us the wrong way. Perhaps he has a pride problem himself, or comes across as "holier than thou" (Isaiah 65:5). Then when he falls, we can get a very satisfied, smug feeling. Maybe we start to think that now we have proof that we are better than they are. Is this love? Obviously not. Instead of being pleased because they have sinned, we need to rejoice when they do right. Ray Pritchard wrote,
"Love does not delight in evil. It takes no pleasure in wrongdoing, is not glad about injustice, and is not happy when evil triumphs. And it takes no joy in hearing evil openly discussed. Love is never glad to hear bad news about another person. Love never says, 'Well, they finally got what they deserved.' Love is never happy to hear that a brother or sister fell into sin. Love does not enjoy passing along bad news."
Instead of rejoicing when others fall, we should rejoice when they live out the truth. Albert Barnes wrote,
"Love does not rejoice in the vices, but in the virtues of others. It is pleased when they do well. It is pleased when they conduct themselves in any manner in such a way as to please God, and to advance their own reputation and happiness. They who are under the influence of that love rejoice that good is done and the truth defended and advanced; rejoice that others are successful in their plans of doing good; and rejoice that other men have a reputation well earned for virtue and purity of life."
Once again we need to ask ourselves a question: do we really love the brethren?
Pastor Mark J Montgomery
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