Recently in my study of the books of Corinthians I was reminded of Paul’s love for the church and the people he met. Read this verse again: 2 Corinthians 5:14a, “For the love of Christ compels us…”
The flesh cannot generate an evangelizing love, or any other manifestation of Christian love. It is the work of the Spirit to produce and direct our love, and, through it, to bear fruit for God. One of the most powerful and most personal messages that the Apostle Paul ever shared about evangelistic love was Romans 9:1-3.
I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying, my conscience confirms it in the Holy Spirit— I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race...
That is a really huge statement! To say I care so much about your soul and eternity that I wish myself accursed from Christ! Even though God redirected Paul's ministry from the Jew to the Gentile he never lost that evangelistic love for his own countrymen. He wanted to see his own family and friends come to faith in Jesus Christ. We often give up too easily when those to whom we witness to and see them resist the gospel, and in so doing we show the thinness of our love.
It is my prayer this holiday season that our love would not run thin, but that we would be compelled by the Love of our master, Jesus Christ to continue to do as He did.
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