Growing Cold

Temperatures are dropping and the weather is growing colder. People all over the world are growing colder as well. We are growing colder towards each other and it is spreading quickly. Our actions and words have become more curt, less tolerant, less accepting and far less loving. The Bible prophesies that ‘Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold..’ This is now.

Wickedness is simply a departure from the divine and moral law. Behind the mantra of ‘my truth’ and ‘your truth’ as opposed to THE truth, wickedness is rampant around the world and is the reason behind our love growing colder. Jesus of Nazareth said, “‘I am the truth and the life..'” Therefore, as people and nations live according to what they believe is true and not how God reveals truth, we become and act more wicked.

Actions speak louder than words. Well done is better than well said. I don’t need to hear it, I need to experience it, I need to see it. You may say ‘I love you’, but are your actions consistently showing it as well? Words matter, but actions rule the day.

I don’t need advice from a climatologist, social scientist or politician to feel the frigidity growing in my own heart. I also hear and see the cold in almost everyone I know and encounter. Are you growing closer to family and friends…more loving and accepting of others? Do you think people demand more of you and give less in return? Do you feel and experience more love today than yesterday? Are you giving more love?

It helps to know what real love looks and acts like. A guy recently told me he would no longer engage with some of his oldest and dearest friends because of their differences. He said he valued their relationship too much. God demonstrated his relationship with us through real love by sending His Son to die for us while our differences were demonstrable. Real love originated from the divine. Real love doesn’t function on the principle of reciprocity.

The fruit of true love is joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. Read those qualities again. Are they increasing in the world? Are they increasing in YOU? I confess, I’m struggling and without Christ, I will fail.

People who profess to know the God of the Old and New Testament believe we have been taught to love by God. We love others because He first loved us. Christ actually commanded His followers to “‘Love one another…By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.'” IF our love is increasing or decreasing, what does that say about our faith? What does this say about who and what we are living for?

Before you hear me as condemning, let’s remember the Bible teaches us this WILL happen. The Bible reminds us to expect and recognize when and why this happens. “‘Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close in on you suddenly like a trap. For it will come on all those who live on the face of the whole earth. Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.'”

Don’t read this truth quickly and don’t neglect what it says. EVERYONE on earth will experience this. ALL people will get caught up appeasing themselves and trying to escape reality by shopping, watching TV, focusing on sports, distancing from others who don’t think or look like you…anything except what is really going on in the day and age. God tells us to be expectant, look and listen because this will happen. Don’t ignore and don’t be afraid because the Bible tells us this happens right before Christ returns.

So, how do I avoid my love growing cold and separating myself from the wickedness in the world? How do you avoid this? First, recognize the state of our hearts and the hearts of others. Recognize the day and age we are living in. Then, realize the only hope is Christ. Accept your own death and live for Him and the Word will become your flesh and daily life. ‘I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.’

That’s the good news. Or, live for yourself and grow colder each day. The choice is stark and simple.

Personally, I don’t want the current trend in the world to continue. I want to be part of the change we all need. I want to grow more loving and not grow colder….and there’s only ONE way. John 3:30…He must become greater and I must become less.