by Rev. Benjamin Chung (鍾立恆牧師)
This is what we say when we see something that causes us to pause and admire. Perhaps a beautiful flower or painting strikes our eye in a fanciful way. Perhaps we witness an act of kindness. “How lovely.”
As believers, we are to be imitators of Christ. This means we understand Christ’s desire for us to have faith, hope and love. Not just to have those fruits, but ultimately to have those fruits through his indwelling in us. This is what we covered last week in our text from Ephesians 3:14-21. In v.17, we are to be “rooted and grounded in love” through Christ’s dwelling in our hearts. This means that Christ must reside in our hearts first, if we are to have love. And this love is beyond being “lovely”, as Jesus did not tell us to be lovely, but to follow His example of love, mercy and grace.
Consider John 14:23, “Jesus replied, ‘If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.’” This is how intertwined obedience, love and dwelling are to one another. Love is can be manifested in the 5 love languages of: words of affirmation, physical touch, receiving gifts, quality time and acts of service.
Lest we think these are the only forms of “love languages”, love can also be exhibited in other ways. We can also be loving by not giving in and giving what someone wants because what they want is not beneficial and likely harmful to them. Similarly, we can also be loving through correction, by speaking to the person who errs about the errors they have made. If this sounds strange, think of it this way: we would be un-loving not to speak up and help the erring person to stop sinning against himself, God and others. Of course, this should be done with the utmost gentleness and humility. Consider what James 5:20 says, “Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins.” This is indeed a lovely action and a loving action. Knowing this, let us all the more pray in obedience, desire to love as Christ loved, and seek to have Christ dwell in our hearts through faith. In so doing, we are not just being lovely, but loving lovely.
Translation:
當我們看到使我們停下來欣賞東西的時候，也許是美麗的花朵或繪畫吸引了我們的視覺，或者是我們見到一種善行，我們會說一些讚美的話。
作為信徒，我們效法基督的榜樣。這意味著基督期望我們有信心，希望和愛，最終因為有主「內住」在我們生命中而活出這些果子。這就是我們上週在以弗所書3:14-21 中所講的內容。在第17 節中，我們藉著基督在我們心中內住「有根有基」地「愛」。如果我們有愛，基督必須首先內住在我們的心裏。這愛超越表面的「愛」，因為耶穌沒有告訴我們行「可愛」的事，而是要效法祂的「愛」，憐憫和恩典。
讓我們思考一下約翰福音14:23 節：「耶穌回答說、人若愛我、就必遵守我的道．我父也必愛他、並且我們要到他那裏去、與他同住。」遵守主的道這是順服，讓愛與內住彼此交織在一起的結果。愛可以藉著以下五種愛的語言來表現：肯定的言語，身體的接觸，接受的禮物，美好的時光和侍奉的行動。
我們會以為這些「愛的語言」是唯一的方法，但其他的方式也可以表達愛。我們也可以藉著不給予或給予某人想要的東西而表達愛，因為他們想要的東西對他們可能沒有好處。同樣，我們
也可以藉著與那些犯了錯的人交談。如果這聽起來很奇怪，請這樣想：倘若我們不說出來，並幫助犯錯誤的人停止傷害自己，上帝和其他人，我們就不是真的愛他們。當然，這應該以最大的溫柔和謙卑來完成。雅各書5:20 說：「叫一個罪人從迷路上轉回便是救一個靈魂不死，並且遮蓋許多的罪。」這確實是一個愛的行動，也是一個充滿愛心的舉動。知道了這一點，就讓我們更加順服地祈禱，渴望像基督所愛的那樣去愛，並尋求透過信心使基督內住在我們心裏。這樣，我們不僅變得「可愛」，而且可以「親切」地去「愛」。
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