How Is Love Nourished?
The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. 1 Tim. 1:5
1 Tim. 1:1-7, 11-14; Acts 19:23-41; 2 Cor 1:12: Heb. 9:14
What Is God Saying?
Paul urged Timothy to stay in Ephesus, not the easiest place to witness to Christ and to share the Gospel. Paul himself barely escaped the wrath of artisans who made silver statues of the pagan goddess Artemis (also known as Diana of the Ephesians). Their cottage industry "brought no little business to the craftsmen." The temple dedicated to her worship was one of the Seven Wonders of the World. One can still see several of the great pillars standing in the Church of Saint Sophia in Istanbul. When Paul's preaching began to harm their trade, they incited a riot that drew a large crowd into the Roman amphitheatre of Ephesus. Nevertheless, the church grew.
In Apostolic times, the Church at Ephesus was the largest concentration of Christians in the world. Christians had no church buildings. They met in hundreds of different homes, but gnostics, whom Paul called "fierce wolves,” infiltrated their meetings. Gnostics were occupied with myths and genealogies which "promote speculation rather than the divine training that is in faith" (1 Tim. 1:4). They believed that God sent an endless series of emanations. Jesus was just another one. He was not the fullness of God in human flesh. Paul instructed Timothy to deal firmly with the newborn churches and to see that their elders were not being drawn away from the simple truth by Gnosticism.
How Does This Apply To Us?
Hence, Paul sounds a clear note on the trumpet. Christian love derives its strength from a pure heart, a good conscience, and sincere truth. The best of God's many gifts is love (John 3:16). It is beyond all depths, all heights, all widths, and all lengths. We can all have that love. Through Christ it is ours, but we cannot reflect that love and share it fully with others if our hearts are impure, our conscience is troubled, or our faith is ingenuous. It is through these fountains that the love of God flows from our lives into a world where people are confused, perplexed, and impoverished. Is it possible that we are sometimes clogged or polluted as God's love flows from our lives to theirs? Good question.
Pray With Me
Lord, you are the source of all love. God is love. I cannot understand your will if I do not realize that its beginning and end is love. I cannot walk in your way without love. You showed your love in Jesus Christ. Through his life, I see your love in action. Through his death, I begin to know the extent of your love. Through faith, I experience that love. Through obedience, I can embody that love. O Spirit of the living Christ, lead me on to discoveries in the greatest adventure, the life of love. Let your love become real in my life. Let it not be an unattainable dream. Instead, let it be a quality that others observe. I want your best gift, which is love. In obedience to your word, I ask for grace to cultivate and to possess the purity of heart, the soundness of conscience, and the sincerity of faith that issues in love.
Dwell in my heart, Spirit of God, to cleanse it from selfish ambition, prejudice, and desire. Renew your witness in my heart, O Spirit of God, that I may know that I am not only being cleansed of all unrighteousness but also entirely forgiven. Let me trust your leading, that I may walk in faith without wavering. Then the very love of God will flow unhindered, continually sustained by the deep springs of a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith.
To the glory of Him whose gracious Spirit alone can make the heart pure, the conscience good, and the faith sincere. Amen.
Moving On In The Life of Prayer
Prayer takes on a three-dimensional reality when, bathed in God's love, we pray for a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith. Prayer opens doors to incredible adventures, to discoveries, to joys unbounded. Does it not assure us that our love of life is, in fact, a life of love?
