Week 10: Love Does Not Delight In Evil

This seems pretty straightforward. You’re probably thinking you are good on this week. Most of us aren’t actively practicing evil. For the most part, I think this Love Attribute is covering the fact that the law was given for our own good and should be followed. For instance, we shouldn’t be liars, thieves, murderers, adulterers, etc. We shouldn’t delight in these things, meaning we shouldn’t enjoy partaking in these evil activities.

There may be some evil things that you do have in your life that are being overlooked. Like lies for instance. Lying seems to be a pretty serious offense to God, and most people do this regularly or at least occasionally. I’m not here to point out all the ways you could be falling short of God’s Law, I think the Holy Spirit can do that for you. If you are struggling with a serious sin, go to God, seek counsel, and get the help you need to move on in freedom.

With that said, maybe I don’t have a huge debilitating sin in my life, like a pornography addiction, but there are some sneaky ways that I allow evil to slip through the cracks in my own life.

When I feel depression rising over me like an ocean, and I allow myself to sink under the waves, feeling its relief and familiarity, in this I am delighting in evil.

When I choose to let my anger entangle me in chains, and feel fully justified in doing so, in this I am delighting in evil.

When I serve someone with a selfish motive, but convince myself I’m doing the right thing anyway, in this I am delighting in evil.

When I refuse to stop and rest and let God speak to me, in this I am delighting in evil.

When I refuse to get over my pain and move on in my life when a brother or sister has wronged me, in this I am delighting in evil.

When I choose to love myself more than someone else, in this I am delighting in evil.

When I refuse to receive love because I’m too proud or wounded, in this I am delighting in evil.

Any time I let evil win in my life, and make an excuse for it or worse, am happy about it, I am delighting in evil.

I can not let evil win. I have to bring these things to God and have Him change my heart. It’s not about my actions, He has a plan and purpose to change me from the inside out. I can get rid of all the bad stuff, I can do the list of things that I know will make me a better person, but this doesn’t fix the actual problem. The actual problem is my heart, my heart so full of wickedness and delighting in evil, my heart that is being completely transformed and renewed because of the death of Jesus Christ, the blameless and spotless sacrifice. Because of Him, I am made new, I am cleansed, I am free to live and love and walk a life without fear. I am free to let Love Win...In my heart, in my life, in my walk with God and in my relationships with others. Love does not delight in evil, because evil entangles us, and love is freedom.

Little Things That Are Tied To Bigger Things

This week we’ve been talking about how Love is Not Easily Angered. Sometimes we’re impatient, or selfish, or we just don’t love like we should. This results in us being easily angered, offended, or provoked. It may feel difficult, but with the Holy Spirit’s guidance, some exercises in thankfulness, and focusing on the positive traits in the offender, we can usually get past them. But then there are those little things that happen which cause a reaction in us much BIGGER than was warranted. Sometimes, we’re just too sensitive, but other times, there is more going on.

A friend of mine was recently spilling her guts about some things her mom did that totally bugged her. It was driving her crazy. She was upset. She complained about every little thing her mom said, didn’t say, did, didn’t do. From my perspective, the things her mom did weren’t that big of a deal, but the situation was actually causing her a great deal of pain. As we talked, she mentioned a big fight they had a few years ago, which was never really resolved. Bingo. Guess what my friend is dealing with? A wound that never healed.

Sometimes when we’re offended, it hits a deep and painful wound that hasn’t healed yet. Something small could translate to us as a huge offense, “hitting a nerve” so to speak, because we’re actually wounded and bleeding and usually, we don’t even know it.

When we’re initially wounded, we tend to “get over” the pain without actually dealing with it. You know the old saying, “time heals all wounds”? Well, I think there is a chance some minor wounds will heal by themselves over time, but in a large wound situation, we need to be involved in the healing process. Ignoring this type of wound does not make it go away. You may, however, forget about it for a time. Think about it like back pain. People who live with back pain can generally function at a normal level. They have a mild amount of pain every day, but they just live with it. They get used to it. But then they go to lift that box, or kick that ball, and BAM, the wound has brought itself to the surface. "Remember me?" it asks. It never really healed. It just went behind the scenes for a while.

This happens with our deep emotional wounds, too. We don’t really know how to get through them. We let them scar a bit, and as long as they’re not bleeding everywhere and on everyone, we move on. But God loves us too much to let these wounds go unnoticed. God uses people and circumstances in our lives to remind us of the wounds that aren’t healed yet. He loves us, and wants the best for us, and doesn’t want us to live forever with the same wounds. He is the Perfect Healer, the Doctor for our souls. But remember, He is also patient, so He will allow you to hold on to your wounds again and again. He will wait, scalpel ready, for us to say, “Doc, you’ve gotta do something here. This hurts too much, and too often. I’m ready.”  Until then, He’ll allow situations to remind us of the pain, all in the hopes that we will bring this pain to Him so He can help us truly heal.

As I deal this week with being impatient and easily angered, or easily brought to tears, I’m asking God to come in and heal the places that hurt too much. I don’t want to be easily offended, I want to walk in forgiveness and really love my God and the people around me.

Sometimes we don’t want to let God heal us, because we want to stay angry with someone. They really deserve it, don’t they? But remember, when we choose to walk in anger, we end up ourselves in chains.

I don’t want to be in chains. I want to be free. So I don’t want to walk in anger and pain, I want to walk in love and forgiveness.