Love, Protection, and Repentance:

What does it truly mean to love someone the way Scripture calls us to? Tonight's Bible study takes us into some of the most challenging and clarifying territory a believer can walk through. Drawing from passages in Ephesians, Colossians, First Peter, and the Psalms, we are confronted with a picture of love that is neither passive, permissive, nor silent in the face of harm. The scriptures paint a portrait of a husband who is to love his wife as Christ loved the church, who is to dwell with her with understanding and honor, and who is to refuse bitterness as a posture of the heart. When we hold that portrait up next to the reality of abuse, the contrast could not be more stark. Psalm 11:5 reminds us that God himself is not neutral on the matter of violence. He hates the soul that loves it. That is not a soft word, and we are not meant to soften it. As we engage with this content, we are invited to ask ourselves a harder question than just what is allowed. We are asked to ask what is right. That shift in framing is where real faith begins to do its work in us.