Matthew 24:12
And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
*Strong's Ex. Conc. No. 458
Iniquity: lawlessness, disobedience, sin
From the Greek word ' anomia' (pronounced an-om-ee'-ah). 'The utter disregard for God's law (His written and living Word). Includes the end-impact of law breaking – i.e. its negative influence on a person's soul (status before God).'
Iniquity is both contempt for and violation of God's law. And according God's Christ "it will abound". Abound: multiply, increase upon increase. And many who think they are Christians - Christ's followers - will leave the faith they think are and be revealed as the faithless that they really are: the unfaithful.
Revelation 2:4
But I have this against you: You have abandoned the love you had at first.
FIRST LOVE
Remember how you felt when you fell in love with your sweetheart? Our eyes would tend to glaze over, getting that starry-eyed effect, when we thought of them or spoke of them.
We wanted to be with them all the time, do what they wanted to do, go where they wanted to go. We listened to the same songs, watched the same movies, read the same books, attended the same church. Their world was our world.
But after awhile, if the stars in our eyes became tears, then was it ever true love after all? The things we used to do together were no longer appealing to us as a couple. Our hearts fell out of love. It was not an enduring love. Our first love had faded.
ENDURING LOVE
A love that endures will make it through the bad times as well as the good times. In this life we will know pain as well as pleasure, sorrow as well as joy, death as well as life.
Enduring love will make it all the way to the end. From the first "I love you" to the last breath taken. From "I do" to "Good-bye". Enduring love perseveres, overcoming obstacles and gaining ground in its endeavor to remain faithful to each other and to cross the finish line of life.
If the first love we have for one another remains strong then it becomes an enduring love, a faithful love. As it is in our personal relationships, so it is in our spiritual relationship. And how do we maintain a Faithful, Enduring first love relationship in Christ? When we love Him like He loves us: through and through.
AGAPE LOVE
Jesus tells us to "A new commandment I give to you, that you should love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another." (John 13:34). How has Christ loved us? With a beneficial love.
An all-encompassing love which overlooks faults in each other, forgiving each other every time there is an offense against us. A to-the-death love, an I-would-die-for-you love which Jesus proved He had when He died on the cross. But this love will wax cold, will wane in a person's heart until the flicker of love that was there goes out.
This love wrongs no one (Romans 13:10). This love holds no grudges against anyone, nor does it seek revenge on wrongs (Leviticus 19:18). This love seeks the betterment of its enemies and prays for its persecutors (Matthew 5:44). This love honors others before itself (Romans 12:10).
To sum it up, this love carries no hate towards others, even if by rights one person could hate another for a legitimate reason, such reasons do not exist in Christ's love. Even on the cross, when He could have condemned the people who nailed Him there, He forgave them. (Luke 23:34).
LOVE-LETTER
The whole Bible, the written Word of God, is a Love-letter from God to His people, for only His people will be able to understand what is written on its pages. We know this because when an unsaved person reads the Bible, they see only the words on the pages, the surface or letter of the law written therein. And there is no understanding in their hearts, no knowledge, no love of God.
Wisdom writes the Word on the hearts of those who believe the Word to be God's Word. It is, after all, Faithful and True (Revelation 21:5, 19:11). The Spirit of God by the power of God is written with love on the hearts of they (we) who love God (2 Corinthians 3:3).
Faithfulness to God's Word requires diligence on our part. Reading this Book together strengthens our bond, for we read to learn of God's love and how to put it into practical application in us. Faithfulness to God's Word demands holiness on our part: righteous living from the inside-out, not just lip service which is only seen and heard, but heart-service which is known by God in secret and revealed by God when His timing is apparent.
BORN AGAIN LOVE
We are the beloved, the born of God, the born again: "We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. That is how we know the Spirit of Truth and the spirit of deception. Beloved, let us love one another, because love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love." 1 John 4:6-8.
