Provoke to Love

Provoking someone isn't a good thing is it?

When we hear the term provoke we automatically associate it with an antagonistic action.

'Don't provoke me!'

'Don't provoke your sister!'

'Stop provoking your brother!'

'He provoked her, that's why she did what she did.'

'Because you were provoked we'll take that into consideration while discussing your situation.'

'The dog was provoked, that's why he bit her.'

Provocation.

provoke (pre-vok´) verb, transitive
provoked, provoking, provokes
1. To incite to anger or resentment.
2. To stir to action or feeling.
3. To give rise to; evoke: provoke laughter.
4. To bring about deliberately; induce: provoke a fight.

We tend to focus on the inciting to anger and resentment, inducing a negative action when we think of the word provoke.

Provoking also means stirring to action- or feeling, to give rise to; not necessarily bad things in and of themselves.

Read this...

Hebrews

{10:24} 'And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works'

Provoke unto love and to good works.

Provoke unto love.

Provoke to good works.

Another action word, yes? Provoke.

We provoke someone to anger by doing something to upset them, right? A brother can tease a sister, a sister tease a brother and they're provoking them to anger, teasing to get a response of anger. How often do we see someone provoking another to love? It's there, we just don't call it provoking. Helping another is provoking them to love isn't it? Being kind provokes others to kindness, or it can. Provoking to love.

How can *you* provoke someone to love?

How can you provoke someone to good works?

Hebrews

{10:24} 'And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works'

{10:25} Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is but exhorting one another and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching'

Exhorting one another.

We have to get together, we have to exhort one another-

exhort (îg-zôrt´) verb
exhorted, exhorting, exhorts verb, transitive
To urge by strong, often stirring argument, admonition, advice, or appeal

We have to urge each other, admonish one another, appeal to each other.

{10:24} 'And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works'

We need to get together and exhort one another- we have to provoke one another unto love and to good works.

Do you see?

This provoking one another to love and to good works, getting together to do so is necessary.

We have to help each other.

When we get together we have to do it with the purpose of provoking love and good works.

May God help us to do this because it's so needed.

It's so easy to provoke to anger, and yet provoking to love is a whole other story.

I sit here and think - 'How can I provoke someone to love?' And I come up short. We're not provoking to 'be in love' or to 'love us romantically', but love in the way God intended. The loving of our fellow man, the loving others as we would be loved by them is the provoking we are to do. I can easily come up with ways to provoke to anger, and yet to provoke to love?

Provoking emotions.

Or is it more than provoking emotions?

Love isn't just an emotion in this way is it? We're not just provoking a 'good' feeling. Love goes beyond that starry-eyed, that prideful, that self-absorption type of love we get caught up in. It goes beyond the 'I love you because you're family', it's a way of life. When Jesus told us to love them that hate us, to love our enemies did he mean for us to get all gushy inside over them, or feel happy about them? God loves us and we know how exact His love can be. God loves us in all He does, in His admonitions, in His guidance, in His chastising, it's all love. We can punish and still love, love does mean not recognizing wrong. Turn the other cheek, do good to those who use you, these are actions-

Matthew {5:44} 'But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you'


Love, bless, do good, pray...

All actions- the looking beyond the feeling. We treat those we love with respect, we care for them and want what is best for them. We can bless someone without having overwhelming affectionate feelings for them. Loving our enemies doesn't mean liking what they do that makes them our enemies, the evil they do rightfully should sadden us. Sadden us more than anything because of the sin involve, the lack of love involve. Us choosing to do good to those who hate us, praying for those who use us despitefully, are choices we make. We're not going gush over them, and force *feelings* of love. We're going to treat them as we would be treated, treat them as God would treat them in love and forgiveness, and let God Himself mete out the punishment they deserve. We're not going to let any of those who are sinful towards us control our actions and work sin in us, or rather we shouldn't. When we choose to hate, to despise, to revile others in return for the way they treat us we are just as bad as they are in what they do to us. We try to justify it by saying they did it first but that's not something that can be justified. Sinning because we've been sinned upon. What a vicious cycle that would be, vicious and ultimately deadly.

Love is a choice, it doesn't have to be an emotion.

We choose loving ways, loving actions, loving deeds not out of feeling but out of a sense of right doing, of doing what is right, what is good; which is what God would have us do.

The ONLY way for us to find any sort of contentment on earth is in Christ, not others, not in our lives here and now. Love is a choice, a choice we make all the time in all our actions.

Provoking to love.

If we are loving we provoke others to love, right? They can choose to be unloving, but as long as we choose to love and be loving in our actions we call upon God to be loving through us and we can hope that the love we show through Christ is a love that will provoke others to the same, not to be like us, oh nooooo, but to be like God.

God help us all to let Him work in us, help us to provoke to love not to anger or hate, not to sin.

By the grace and mercy of Jesus.

Amen.