His Love Purifies


 Elisabeth Elliot ~ “Love is not merely a gentle touch or a pat on the head. It is a refiner’s fire. It burns to purify.”

Reminds me of the verse in Mark 9:49 which says, “For everyone will be salted with fire.”


 Neither of those sound like a lot of fun! 

‭ Fire can purify. It burns away what is useless to bring out something better. 


But love “burns to purify?”


The Bible teaches us that God is love. If God is love, then is it His love that does the purifying?


‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭12‬:‭29‬(ESV‬‬) says, “for our God is a consuming fire.”

And in ‭‭ ‭‭Malachi‬ ‭3‬:‭2‬-‭3‬(ESV‬‬), “…For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap…”


I found this definition for “fuller’s soap”. “Fuller's soap was a powerful, highly alkaline cleaning agent used in ancient times to scour, cleanse, and whiten raw wool or woven cloth before it was dyed”. 


God’s love is like “fuller’s soap, scrubbing away what is unnecessary within us. Like deep cleaning for the soul and perhaps the heart and mind as well.


So perhaps the trials, struggles, challenges we face in life are meant to purify us? 

Is this how the Holy Spirit brings about changes in our life? In order to strengthen our faith, help us to grow closer to the Lord?

Teach us to die to self and learn that love is actually sacrifice, not the touchy feely kind that the world offers that is more about self than sacrifice.


Death to self. 

My way of thinking.

My rights.

Control.

Willingness to put someone else ahead of me.

To say no to the flesh and yes to the Spirit.

Dying to self is hard.


But Jesus teaches us in John 12:24, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.”

‭‭

The seed must die. 

I just want to reflect on that for a moment. When the seed is planted it has to let go of its outer shell in order to let the plant within sprout. As the plant begins to grow a flower will form, but then the flower must wilt and die for the fruit to be produced. The “fruit” itself must die when removed from the vine in order for us to enjoy. 


In order for us to love as Jesus calls us to, we must die to self. Let go of what we cling so tightly to in order for His love to cleanse us of all the unnecessary garbage and grow within us so that we can love others the way Jesus loved us!


Proverbs 20:30(ESV) says, “Blows that wound cleanse away evil; strokes make clean the innermost parts.”

‭‭

So allow God’s cleansing love to have its way for He is creating something beautiful:)

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