Can You Love Someone Too Much?

We must not compromise God’s truth or kingdom for those close to us.   #daybydaylw   To learn what it means to follow Jesus in your life, go to follow.lifeword.org.   ~~~   The removal of what we love too much can grieve us so much that we become blind to the priorities of the kingdom. David’s desire and wishes and love for his son Absalom had grown to a point to where they were greater than his love and desire for God and His kingdom. Perhaps David was grieving over his passiveness as a father, because we have definitely seen that. In fact, that has been a recurring theme throughout the Samuels—fathers unwilling to handle the business within their family. When will we learn dads, that your words, your actions, and your silence and your passiveness have hard-hitting effects on your family? When will we learn that God has designed the family in such a way that kids look to their dads for direction and guidance and will test the boundaries, so much so that if they find no boundaries, they will continue to move farther and farther until their disobedience is met with some unwanted outcome? But ultimately, David’s love and desire for the safety of his son was greater than his love and desire for the safety of the kingdom. Remember that Jesus said in Matthew 10:36 “I did not come to bring peace but a sword…A man’s enemies will be those of his own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of my. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me, is not worthy of me.” In other words, truth divides. No doubt we must gracious and merciful with those close to us who are not believers, but we must not compromise God’s truth or kingdom.