Stunned...long post, but from my heart...
1 Cor 13.4-7...please look at Vs 6 very closely
[SUP]4 [/SUP]Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, [SUP]5 [/SUP]does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, [SUP]6 [/SUP]does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; [SUP]7 [/SUP]bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
The love of God is shed in our hearts by the Holy Spirit and the love walk is always maintained...and we know what love is from the above passage...
There are 4 kinds of - the first 3 are human and emotional and the 4th is Gods perfect or agape love
1-Phileo-brotherly love
2-Eros-Sexual
3-Storge-devoted love between family and spouses
4-Agape-God's perfect love..
I think many fellow brothers and sisters often times think ALL Love needs to be a display of sweet, oozy, gooey, syrupy emotional Phileo, & storge love...many who admonish others to be more loving here are attempting to get people to love in the Phileo, & Storge love without possibly knowing it...this is because Phileo, & Storge love is often and always confused with agape love....
Jesus operated in Agape, Phileo, & Storge love....
The perfect[agape] love of God is not Eros, Phileo, & storge love because all 3 types of that love have and need an expectation of a return and to be received and most of the times gets the return and is received......
The perfect love of God [agape love] is a love that does NOT seek or expect any kind of a return when it is poured out....it is also a contending type of love...this love does entail the qualities of Phileo, & storge love, but stops in it's expectation of a return or even being received...this love is described in 1 Cor 13.6....
This is also the "loved" mentioned in John 3.16 and God poured out his perfect love on mankind and knew before hand that not all would return the love or even receive the love....
I said all that to say this...when Paul withstood, corrected, reproved, rebuked, disciplined someone in the Church or a fellow bond servant he used the perfect love that does not rejoice in unrighteousness but does rejoice in the truth...
This is the love that Jesus always manifested when confronted by the Pharisees, Sadducees and scribes....Yes, he in perfect love called them serpents, vipers, blind, traditionalists, sons of the devil....and on and on....if you really study Jesus way of ministry...he did manifested this perfect love to keep the hearing from being destroyed by the religion they were enslaved by....
I had a mentor once pull me in a room after I preached a message a very long time ago....He took me to a room with an elder closed the door and completely unleashed on me and was very emotionally and visibly upset....My pride and arrogance kept me from seeing that what I thought was emotional anger, was a very correct, righteous anger and deep concern for the people I had just preached to...and could have destroyed by one remark.....I told them: that not one of you is now worthy of what Jesus had done for them....the point I was trying to make was: that before coming to Jesus not one is righteous....I also stated that SIN is something we have to live with the rest of our lives...so get used to it....I messed up really badly
I got right back in his face and he physically grabbed me and sat me down and once I lowered my pride and arrogance and saw him and the elder weeping tears of righteous anger and concern for me and the people...it clicked in my spirit and I submitted myself to the correction that was needed. He finished explaining to me what I had done wrong and what was at stake by not preaching the truth...the elder was in agreement...This was love that does not rejoice in unrighteousness but does rejoice in the truth
Did the mentor need to be upset, who knows, but looking back on it now, it reminded me when I was child and ran out into eh street to chase a ball and my Dad was very urgent in his correction and tone of voice...STOP!!!!! I said STOP!!!!...I froze at the end of the yard and a truck zoomed past and crushed the ball I was chasing...he then grabbed me and shook me and said...do not ever do that again....my Mom was just as upset and they both hugged me....
I came to understand how much Agape Phileo, & storge love that mentor had/has for me to this day....
The arch enemy of agape perfect love is pride, arrogance, the iniquity that is narcissism[self love] and rebellion.....I have heard others say that even Phileo, & storge love conflicts with agape perfect love, I agree with that....
When we expect a return or others to receive our love from us...we are not walking in agape perfect love
I had to tell a born again friend 3 years ago that if he continued down the path he was walking in he would lose the church he had just bought and started....he was preaching a gospel that was keeping God's people in bondage and he was never called to preach, pastor or shepherd....his pride refused to take the correction....he asked me 2 years why I thought the church was not going anywhere...I told him flatly that the was never called to preach, pastor or shepherd....admonished him and explained the scriptures more accurately.....he ended fellowship and then went around to all our collective friends and partners in ministry and lied about us and tried to destroy my wife and I and our ministry...deep betrayal and very deep hurt....
I manifested agape perfect love to him....many others sided with him, because he was out there running his mouth agaisnt us...they thought we were bad people and needed to show more love to this guy and his wife....and they stopped being friends with us and called my Pastor and accountability partners and caused a mess.... but all these folks kept on telling this guy that God called him to preach/pastor/shepherd, forget that meggido man and his silly wife...he is not loving or kind an needs to show more love...
He closed the church 3 months ago and almost attempted suicide and is now shipwreck in his faith and his entire family is as well...he now blames my wife and I for his failure......the others....we still love them and him and pray for them all daily...
When you walk in perfect love that does not rejoice in unrighteousness but does rejoice in the truth.....it is usually with only you and Jesus....