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THE LOVE OF THE LORD EXPRESSED THROUGH DISCIPLINE
B Y M ICHAEL S HAMBERGER When you think of “love” what is the first thought that comes to your mind? Now, for the majority of us who did not think “God” or “Jesus” as our first thought for love, no condemnation. But here’s a thought for us to consider. Scripture says that God is love (1 John 4:8). Since love is who God is and what God is, can there be any greater lover anywhere than God Almighty? So why is it that we don’t think of God first when it comes to love? Most of us are hopefully taught to love at an early age. But we find that love means different things for different people. One commonality that love seems to carry across the various meanings is that love is something good. It might be kind, nice, gentle, giving, caring, selfless, thoughtful, etc. But whatever the description, it is a good and positive experience for the giver and the receiver. From our human perspective if love hurts, it’s not love to us. If love is tough, painful or abrasive, it’s not love to us. It must feel right, it must sound right, and it must align with our human ideologies of love for us to consider it as love. But what if God’s definition and perspective of love is much broader than ours? If His definition of love includes aspects that we don’t include, then who is right and who is wrong? And how does this gap in the understanding of love affect us today in how we live, train our children, and relate to each other, and to God? One popular passage of scripture that people generally refer to when talking about godly love
