Romans 5:1-6
¹Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, ²through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God.
³And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; ⁴and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; ⁵and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
⁶For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.
There is always so much written in Paul’s letters that it is almost impossible to process everything at once.
So this time we want to dwell only on the last two verses:
“Hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been shed abroad in our hearts.”
When we have learned to persevere through a way of tribulation and have proved so tested, then we become truly happy people: people who learn to live from a hope that never leaves us in embarrassment.
Through that hope we receive an openness to everyone and a relaxed boldness that the Christian world unfortunately all too often lacks because there is no real hope, at least not the hope that God gives.
Much has been said about love in Christianity, but quite rightly that word love has been replaced by compassion.
True Christian love is something completely different: it is a gift from God.
▪︎As long as we still believe in our own abilities and we still get good results with the love of our own generation, we will never learn to love as He has loved us.
▪︎As long as we continue to adapt the message of the Gospel to our own standards, we can avoid many tribulations that await everyone who comes to believe the truth of the Gospel and live by it.
But then God cannot pour His selfless love into our hearts!
He can only do that when our self-love has burned out. Only then can we really love like Jesus.
But our self-love will never be quenched, if we are not thrilled with the unselfish love which God is willing to pour into our hearts through Christ our Lord.
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