Wednesday, March 24, 2010

What is more important, faith in Jesus or Love?

First I wonder what the asker means by "Love."  I assume he/she meant "romantic love," which I would like to differentiate from the higher and more encompassing form of love, which I will call "True Love."  "True Love" is what Jesus has taught us to do - to love God with all our hearts, and all our minds, and all our strength, and all our souls, and to love one another as he has loved us.  I also like this definition from the 1st Letter of Paul to the Corinthians, Chapter 13, Verses 4 to 7:
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
My simple and short answer to the question is: Faith in Jesus means to Love!  But if the asker is talking about romantice love, faith in Jesus obviously is more important.

If your romantic love is asking you to choose between him/her and Jesus, it is a sign to not continue with that relationship!  Because in every relationship, Jesus should be at the center, and not an optional or temporary component that your "(romantic) love" can replace when he/she comes along!  It is actually quite sad to hear some stories of men or women giving up Jesus (i.e. in the form of stopping their service/mission for Him, like singing in the Church choir, etc., or by giving up their daily prayer routine, etc.) for what they think is their "true love."

Anyway, this is where Faith comes in - can you have faith in God that he is still preparing someone much better than your current romantic love?  Or will you settle for the current one?  In the end, it might actually be the same person, only a better person.  Or it could be a person you haven't yet met.  Or it could be someone you have already met but you don't know yet that it's him/her.  It could be anyone!  And he/she will certainly be a gift from God.  But God would not give you a gift that will let you choose to abandon Him.

It might be difficult to imagine right now how anyone could be better than the current, and this is where True Faith comes in, the kind of Faith in God believing that He has the best plan for us, and that we don't have to stray away from Him.

True Love waits.  Personally I know this for a fact.  If you want to know my story, drop a comment.


Anyway, the decision is yours to make.  What do you think God would like you to choose?  I pray that your choice is the same as what God would choose if He were in your shoes.  Give it some time, think about it, pray for His guidance.  Next thing you know (took me years - but it's all worth it), you have a great story to share with others who are undergoing the same "dilemma."

God bless!

1 comment:

  1. P.S. I highlighted "rejoices with the truth" - because I strongly believe that the "loving with the mind" part of love is often always forgotten. Each of us need to discover certain "truths," and this can be done through a lot of reading - read books, read the Bible, ask "experts" such as preachers, priests, friends, elders, and so on... When reading the Bible, I found it easiest to start with the Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, the Epistles (Letters) of Paul, and then start from Genesis, and so on. If you know the "truth," I am sure you would make the best decision because certainly you will be guided. God bless!

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