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Radical Lovers
Victoria Boyson
www.boyson.org
The enemy has been attacking the
church with cold love in an attempt to pre-empt the coming move of God with seeds of division. In response to his attack, we must become God's army of radical lovers, who love in spite of wrongs suffered. In so doing, we will
indeed usher in the next wave of God's glory with a greater manifestation of God's love, peace and joy.
My Mother's Love
As I was growing up, my mother's favorite saying seemed to be, "If you can't
say anything nice, don't say anything at all." She never allowed me to speak evil of others. She would always tell me, "If you have to say something negative to someone or about someone, speak seven nice things about
them first to make up for the one negative thing spoken." This is wonderful advice, but I have to admit that I have not always followed my mother's advice.
I understand completely what Paul meant when he said,
"For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want" (Ro. 7:19). We all desire to speak blessings over others, but occasionally negative thoughts about them held in storage in our
minds pop out of our mouths in the form of accusations.
The enemy has targeted our thoughts and mouths because he knows better than we do that the power of life and death is in our tongues (see Prov. 18:21). Truly, we
have yet to comprehend the power that is released through the words we speak. When we speak negative words about others, we open doors for the enemy to come into our lives and bring death and destruction.
So, the
plan of the enemy is very simple isn't it? He knows if he can gain control of our tongues he can use it against us for our destruction. He puts thoughts in our minds about others that, if not taken captive, will take root in
our heart. These thoughts may lay dormant for awhile, but at an improper moment they come spewing out our mouth like a deadly poison, destroying or hindering any victory or blessing we may have had lying ahead of us.
Sowing and Reaping
I have discovered a shift in the spirit realm in the area of sowing and reaping with an almost immediate harvesting of what we have sown. Amos 9:13 says, "'Behold, days are coming,' declares the
Lord, 'When the plowman will overtake the reaper'" and we are beginning to move toward that now, with the blessings of heaven coming shortly after we have sown them. This is a time we as believers have been anticipating. But now that it is here, I have begun to see how unprepared we are for the full benefits or consequences of this promise.
We have failed to understand that everything we sow will be reaped. Even the negative seeds we sow will spring to life soon after we have sown them. While in the midst of a great victory, the enemy will try to trap us in a harvest of our negative words. With careless words, we can turn our surest victories into complete defeats.
He knows that by getting us to curse others, we curse ourselves as well. He is seeking an open door in order to destroy us, and quite often we have given him access to our lives without even realizing it.
One day
my oldest son was playing basketball, and before the game we prayed for him to do well. For the first half of the game he played exceptional. However, during half-time a friend shared news with me about a brother in Christ. My
initial response toward the news was not redemptive, but judgmental.
My son got back onto the court and did not play as well as he had the first half of the game. There was a visible change in his abilities. I prayed,
rebuked the enemy, spoke in tongues and hollered out encouragement to my son, but nothing helped. I could feel in my spirit something had changed, but I didn't connect the two incidents. It wasn't until later, as I thought back
on the game and the negative words I spoke, that I saw what happened.
No matter how good my son was at basketball, he needed God's grace to play well. God's grace comes through our humble submission to do what He desires
of us. If we want the grace of God in our lives, we must be willing to give that grace to others. Judgment toward others comes through an attitude of superiority. Moreover, "God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble" (James 4:6). By having a judgmental attitude toward a brother, I closed the door on God's grace for myself and my son.
Ps. 34:12-13 says, "Who is the man who desires life and loves length of days that he may see good? Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit." If we want to see good in our lives, we must
not speak evil of others. We must repent of any words of judgment toward others and cling to and live by the mercy of the cross of Jesus Christ and the unconditional love of our Father.
Love Covers All
"Love covers all transgressions" (Prov. 10:12).
If love covers sin, we must seek to love more than anything. Love is that important! Love is a refuge for us and we must abide in the love of Christ (see Jn.
15:10). Loving God and loving His people keeps us safe from the traps of the enemy. If we harbor love for others in our hearts instead of offense, we are kept safe from the snares of the enemy.
As we
experience offense, we must deal with it right away or it will become a snare to us. The enemy causes offense, and then uses it to lie to us about those who have offended us. It is these unhealed wounds that open the door for
the attacks of the enemy. If these lies are not dealt with, they will eventually become words that curse others, opening doors for the enemy to destroy us.
We must stay on our guard and take every thought captive (see 2
Cor. 10:5). We must aggressively war against any offense that comes at us with prayers of radical love for our offenders! We must see past the offense to the redemptive purpose of the offense, which is our intercession for
them. If someone wounds us, we can choose to either accuse or intercede. I call to mind the admonition of James who wrote, "Mercy triumphs over judgment" (James 2:13), for I believe these words not only
show the power of mercy, but the joy that God has when we display a merciful heart.
Judgement actually feeds the evil that is attacking our brother and it is spurred on by the pride in our own hearts. But humility
births intercession that responds to the needs of our brother by becoming the solution to his problem through prayer saturated in love.
I have a friend, who seems to have spiritual sonar to know when I am under
attack; somehow she always knows when I need help. She never judges me for needing help, she just helps - simply responding to my need with love and redemptive prayers of intercession. She has become a safe harbor for me -
loving, not judging. She sees past my faults and ministers to my need.
Radical Love
Redemptive love is radical love; love that is not based on experiences, but on the unconditional love of Christ.
God is calling His people to be radical lovers. Radical love destroys the works of darkness in the lives of others. It causes us to love in spite of how we are treated! Radical love is simply loving as Christ loved, who gave His life for those He loved.
"Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends" (Jn. 15:13). This kind of love responds to offense with redemptive intercession, not with accusation or judgement. It does not
take offense personally, but looks past the faults of others and sees their needs, compelling us to become a part of the solution, not the problem.
This is the "greater love" that our Lord is calling us to
walk in. This is the radical love that God had for us that moved Him to send His only Son to redeem us from our sins. God gave us life and we turned away from Him and lived for ourselves. In our rebellion we brought a curse
upon ourselves, God's response was to send His Son to redeem us from that curse. He gave His Son so that we might live! That is indeed radical love, for Jesus came to save the world, not judge it (see Jn. 12:47). We must do the
same!
"Sow with a view to righteousness, reap in accordance with kindness; break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the Lord" (Hosea 10:12).
Pray this with me:
Dear Lord,
Please forgive me for the negative seeds I have sown. I repent of judgment and accusation. Cleanse my lips Lord and help me to only speak life. I plead the blood of Jesus over myself and those I have spoken against. I ask you
to bless them, myself and Your church. Cause me to respond to offense with Your redemptive, radical love! In Jesus' name, Amen.
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