I’m not entirely sure that we, as believers, can truly comprehend the love of God. He loved us even in our rebellion and rejection. He loved us even when we were metaphorically spitting on him and cursing him. He loves us so much that he sent his son to not only die for us, but to show us how to live. Even now he loves us with a jealous love. The Bible even describes God as love. But what does that mean? How can we wrap our minds around God’s love for us and his mandate for us to love one another? First John, chapter 4, verses 7 through 12 may help. It says:
“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.”
So, God is love, love comes from God and if we love we know God. If you have been a believer for a while, you might be able to attest that the more we follow God by becoming less like ourselves and more like Jesus, the more we inevitably love our fellow man. Even still, godly love doesn’t come easy for some. At times, I’ll admit that it doesn’t come easy for me. But we can rest easy. We do not have to try to generate love. We don’t have to fake it or go through the motions. All we have to do is press into God. If we love him our love for others will follow. First John tells us that love comes from God. So if we try to manufacture it in our flesh, we are pulling from the wrong source.
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John reminds is that “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” That is what Jesus did for us. And in First John, we’re reminded that God is love, and our ability to love one another with godly love, comes from him. The kind of love that John is talking about is reflected in Paul’s words from First Corinthians, chapter 13, which says in part: “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always preserves.” This is the kind of love we are to show; the kind of godly love that reflects our creator. If any of the scripture that I shared today is new to you, I would encourage you to explore it in more detail and in its complete context. It is so important for us to understand love, because after all, God is love.
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