"That Sunday Evening the disciples were meeting behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Suddenly, Jesus was standing there among them! "Peace be with you," he said. As he spoke, he showed them the wounds in his hands and his side. They were filled with joy when they saw the Lord! Again he said, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you." Then he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone's sins, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven."" (John 20:19-23 NLT)
"Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-hamon; he let out the vineyard unto keepers; every one for the fruit thereof was to bring a thousand pieces of silver. My vineyard, which is mine, is before me: thou, O Solomon, must have a thousand, and those that keep the fruit thereof two hundred. Thou that dwellest in the garden, the companions hearken to thy voice: cause me to hear it. Make haste, my beloved, and be like to a roe or to a young hart upon the mountain of spices." (THE SONG OF SOLOMON 8:11-14 KJV)
Something else I forgot to mention yesterday, not that we don't already know this, but Jesus tells us that we must forgive others, just as we have been forgiven by our Heavenly Father! "But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins." (Matthew 6:15 NLT) Just one more reason that we need to make things right!
As to this portion of Scripture from The Song of Solomon, whether it is about the love between a man or woman, or between Christ and the church, the same basic principles must apply: Love must endure! No matter how hard the battles might become, or no matter who might be at fault, Love must endure! I know, most people cannot see how that works, especially in the middle of something that appears to be chaos or uncontrollable; but it will only be love that will bring things back into order!
I have witnessed some pretty ugly things; some of which I almost walked away from, throwing my hands up and feeling as though I needed to give up. But when you see two people at odds with each other, it is really hard to determine who should be the one that gives in, and who is the one that is right.
Regardless of who is right or wrong, someone needs to be the one that loves! Sounds simple, but it really is not! Pray, pray, pray! You have got to let the Holy Spirit take control, because your flesh will not allow you to be humble enough to surrender! Love must endure...
"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but I have not love, I am only a ringing gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have absolute faith so as to move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and exult in the surrender of my body, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no account of wrongs. Love takes no pleasure in evil, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be restrained; where there is knowledge, it will be dismissed. For we know in part and prophecy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial passes away. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I set aside childish ways. Now we see but a dim reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now three remain: faith, hope, and love; but the greatest of these is love." (1 Corinthians 13:1-13 BSB)
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