God doesn’t love us because we deserve it,
He loves us because He IS Love.
Topic of the month: Love
There are a lot of songs out there that could be considered “classic love songs.” Depending on the era you grew up perhaps, “I love you truly”, “Endless Love” or “Can’t Help Falling in Love” might be familiar hits. Most of us know a song that we could correlate with the word love. But, what is LOVE really? Is it a feeling? Is it a state of mind? Why do we want it? Sing about it? Need it? How do we know we are experiencing it if we can’t explain it or define it? Are we trying to complicate it? Simplify it? To get to the truth about love, this month we will look at how the bible defines love. Then and only then we can grasp the view of love that is true and real. It will probably appear differently from the description we’ve gleamed from television shows, books, or other man-defined sources.
In the First Letter of John, John writes,
“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.”
In two short verses, John sums up that if we know God, then we can love others because God is love. If we don’t know God, we can not truly love another. If God IS love we must know Him in order to know what love is. John tells us “God is love” because God continually gives of himself to us and seeks our benefit. How many of us are continually seeking the benefit of another? That seems impossible. But not for God. His love is steadfast. His love is unwavering. His love is deep and wide and conquers death. A truly pure and powerful reality for us to grasp. How could we be loved in this way?
Only by the ONE who is Love
God created us in His image. We have the capability to love.We can show love that benefits others. We don’t always do it well because we live in a fallen world. A world that is selfish, self-seeking and even hateful at times. We have to spend time with our image bearer in order to bear His image. Do we do this? Do we believe it is important to bear His image?
The first time I read John 3:16, I doubt I grasped the magnitude of what God truly gave us:
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
The ultimate show of love. Jesus came to this earth to love us, to die for us so that we might live.
No wonder John writes, “God is Love.” Move toward knowing God today. Benefit others. Love well.
Holding Fast to Hope,
Jen
Scripture References 1 John 4:7-8, Psalm 36:10, Psalm 107, Genesis 1:27, Jeremiah 31:3 Nehemiah 1:5
