Does Not Delight in Evil- but Rejoices with Truth

EVIL- 1.Morally bad or wrong; wicked 2. Causing ruin, injury, or pain; harmful

TRUE- 1. the quality of being true, genuine, actual, or factual 2. something that is true as opposed to false 3. honesty, reliability, or veracity- fidelity

Wow...this one sort of took me back for a second. I looked at it and had to think about or define both EVIL and TRUTH to figure out what it really meant.

So, love does not take delight- or joy, or pleasure- in anything morally wrong or wicked. Morally wrong- well....morally, I guess the biggest guide I have is the Bible. Maybe beginning with the 10 Commandments.

Have no other god before the Lord God.
Do not make or worship an idol.
Do not misuse the name of the Lord, your God.
Remember the Sabbath and keep it Holy.
Honor your Father and Mother.
Do not murder.
Do not commit adultery.
Do not steal.
Do not lie.
Do not be jealous and want what others have.

Realtionally- in a loving environment- this would mean something like the following, perhaps-

Do not expect a person you love to be God for you. God is the only one who can be your all-in-all and it isn't fare to ask someone else- anyone else to be that for you.

Do not worship a person- the higher you put them on a pedastool, the harder the fall. No one is perfect and being imperfect means you will always be let down if you worship a person.

The third is not misusing God's name, and I believe this all ties in- the first three all talk of the importance of God in your life. He is number one...when that part of our lives is off track- it is easy to let the rest go.

What I have found, is that if my walk with God is off- it is harder for me to be as loving. It is harder for me to do much of anything very well.  When I focus on Him, somehow, things in other areas of my life fall into place easier. Especially in the realtionship department.

Remember the Sabbath and keep it Holy. This again, is more about God. But, it is so helpful to us as people as well. In remembering the Sabbath, we rest. We spend time together. It lets us regroup and center from the business of life.

Honor your father and your mother. When you have a good relationship at home before you leave your mother and father, it seems to carry over into having an easier time adapting to a spouse and family and getting along with them. If you have a hard time showing those at home love, honor and respect- or if you come from a home where these things are not valued....it only stands to reason that it will be more of a struggle living out the rest of your life this way. It will have to be a new way of life- something you must learn to do. But, well worth the learning. People love back much better when they know they are valued, honored, respected and truly loved.

Do not murder- hello? This one would end any relationship. And obviously, this would be pretty evil. Love would not be happy to kill someone. No way.

Do not commit adultery- another big one. It is not loving to share intimacy that is supposed to be reserved for one- and sacred, to be anything but evil. It is never going to help the relationship you began with one person to divide yourself, physically, emotionally, or otherwise with another in the same fashion. If anything, it will probably cause you to drift further apart. On the opposite end- what if when you feel your relationship is falling apart- instead, you begin to pour more of you into it than ever? You give more of yourself emotionally and physically...to make the other person feel loved and appreciated and valued?

Do not steal- another obvious one...stealing tells a person you do not respect them or their property. But, what about stealing things like a person's JOY? A person's CONFIDENCE? A person's sense of WORTH? A person's ACCOMPLISHMENTS? On the opposite end- how loving it is when we rejoice with someone in their joy? When we lift them up and boost their confidence. When we show them we value them as God does and are proud of their accomplishments and cheer them on to more? That IS loving. That is rejoicing in TRUTH!

Do not lie. I suppose any relationship is going to be easier if the person you are in relationship with knows you are trustowrthy. If you truly love someone, I would say, it would be difficult to lie to them as you would probably feel guilty in doing so. You would not be HAPPY to lie to their face. It would put a feeling in your stomach as if a huge stone had been dropped there.

Do not be jealous and covet what others have.
If you are in a relationship where the person you are with is never happy with what you have, how things are- always discontent- eventually, the relationship will get broken down. On the other side, when the one you are with is grateful for you and for what you bring to the relationship, physically, emotionally, spiritually, monetarily, they do not even care what others have or do- and it leaves your relationship feeling GOOD- adequate- or even more than adequate. There is a sense of being content. :)

Wow....the fact of the matter is that in the new testament Jesus said that all of the commandments- (and there are more) could be summed up in LOVING GOD and LOVING YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF. Love God. Love others. And this is what I have been exploring and writing about for weeks. What exactly is - isn't LOVE......