1 John 4:7 “beloved, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God”
In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another (1 John 4:10-11).
John 13:34-35 “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples. If you have love for one another”.
- Love is a supernatural virtue instilled in us by God. The fruit of the Spirit is love (Galatians 5:22).
- Love is an action . It manifests itself in selfless service. When we love others, we do things for them. “Whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? (1 John 3:17).
- Love is an attitude that operates more deeply than feelings. Attitudes are dispositions of the heart that anchor our emotions, just as the unshakable mountains support the trees on its slopes
- Love is an emotion that’s hard to describe. It’s an emotional longing for another person and a deep satisfaction when that love is reciprocated. It suffers intense anguish when it isn’t.
- Love is a choice. We can determine in our hearts to love even the unlovely. This comprehensive, inclusive quality of love can only be experienced by opening our lives to Calvary. When we receive God’s love through Jesus Christ, it flows through us to others like a golden river.
The Power of Love
“But faith…worketh by love.” (Galatians 5:6)
God wants us to have power. But first, He has to be sure we’ll use that power in love. He wants to know that we won’t take it and mix it with judgment and criticism and blast people out of the water.
“Matthew,” He said, “I can’t afford to back your words with supernatural power in a church service on Sunday morning and then have you get on the freeway that night and lash out at someone because he pulled over into your lane. You’d blow him off the motorway. I can’t leave the power of Almighty God at a high volume in the mouth of an unmerciful fool.”
Do you want God to put a shotgun of spiritual power in your hand, so you can blow the works of the devil to kingdom come? Then focus on love. Pursue it. Practice it. Study it. Grow up in it. Then you’ll see the power of God operating through you.
“we know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers” (1 John 3:14). Although loving others will not save us, John forcefully states that if we are truly saved we will love one another; “whoever does not love does not know God” (1 John 4:8).
It’s interesting to note that in the five chapters of 1 John, the word love is used 46 times. If love is this important, we ought to understand what it means. 1 John 3:16-18
“This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.”
John is saying that Jesus set the example for love and that our love for others is a direct result of the love of God within us. As we love God and surrender our life to Jesus Christ, His love fills us and overflows into the lives of those around us. If love for others is lacking, we must lay down our life and increase our love for God; an increased love for God will automatic increase our love for others.
John also makes it clear that a Godly love for others is not simply an emotional “feeling” or gentle and kind words. When we begin to understand God’s love for us – when we catch even a glimpse of His mercy and love in giving us His Son – we will be compelled to express our love with meaningful action such as meeting physical needs, readily forgiving when wronged, and showing Godly compassion when others are hurting. God so desired to be with us for all eternity that He gave His Son and loved us all the way to the cross. We are to love others in this same manner, “because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19).
Our love for God is demonstrated by our real love for others. Jesus made this clear when He said; “whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for Me” (Matthew 25:40). We are actually loving and serving God as we love and serve others: “I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited Me in, I needed clothes and you clothed Me, I was sick and you looked after Me, I was in prison and you came to visit Me” (Matthew 25:35-36).
Love must be an integral part of our Christian walk. Love must be directed up; “love the Lord with ALL your heart” (Mark 12:30), and love must be directed out; “love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark)
12:31). Let’s love as Jesus loved us! Let’s look for ways to love with more than words – let’s love with an active love.
- The Risk of Love
- To laugh is to risk appearing the fool
- To weep is to risk appearing sentimental
- To reach out for another is to risk involvement
- To expose feelings is to risk exposing your true self
- To place your ideas, your dreams before the crowd is to risk their loss
- To love is to risk not being loved in return
- To live is to risk dying
- To hope is to risk despair
- To try is to risk failure
But risks must be taken because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing. The person who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing and is nothing. They may avoid suffering and sorrow, but they cannot learn, feel, change, grow, love, live. Chained by their certitudes, they are a slave, they have forfeited their freedom.Only a person who risks is free. –Leo Bascaglia
Prayers: Teach Me How to Love John 13:34-35 – A New Command
Lord, thank You for the privilege of talking to You. Thank you for the great gift of prayer. Thank you for your grace and strength.
I welcome you into my heart so that You can fill me and empower me.
I welcome You into my wounded memories. Come, teach me how to love and forgive.
You are the great physician, and I trust You to heal my emotion, body, mind, soul and spirit; above all, everything in me that needs healing.
Help me to grow in my knowledge of You, and to love You.
Teach Me to seek after your standards in every area of my life.
Holy Spirit, Open my eyes to the hurting people around me. Make room in my heart for compassion to flow.
Open my eyes so that I can see you in ALL things today, Amen.
1 John 4:7 “let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.
Isaiah 65:23 “They will not toil in vain or bear children doomed to misfortune, for they will be a people blessed by the Lord”.
Isaiah 65:24 “Before they call I will answer, while they are still speaking I will hear”.
Psalm 34:19 “A righteous man may have troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all, he protects all his bones, not one of them will be broken”.
Psalm 32:10 “Many are the woes of the wicked, but the Lord’s unfailing love surrounds the man who trusts in him”.
Love one another, love God, love your families – Love like you have never been hurt.
God never gives up on you, even if you have broken one of his rules. You are not compromising when you love, you never lower your standards when you love. Love never fails.
Practical Ways to Demonstrate the Love of God to Your Environment
- Evangelism: When God provides an opportunity, share the message of reconciliation clearly with your world around you, to the lost, estranged people who desperately need peace with him through Jesus Christ.
- Online: Refuse to engage in divisive discussions on social media or to share divisive posts and tweets. Choose instead to post comments about God’s goodness and faithfulness. Share the blessings you and your loved ones experience, and give God the glory.
- Generosity: Give a generous tip to a harried restaurant staff. Explain that it’s a privilege to share God’s resources with others.
- Listening: Seek to understand opposing viewpoints when people speak against the values you hold dear. Choose to listen rather than argue.
- Thanksgiving: Send a handwritten note of thanks to people who impact your life – a mail carrier, doctor, or neighbour. Tell them why you consider them one of God’s blessings in your life.
- Hospitality: Look out for the ‘real needy’ and bless them accordingly. Invite a neighbour or co-worker to share a meal with you. If you’re not a cook, meet at a restaurant or pick up food and bring it home. Express your appreciation and give God the glory for bringing that person into your life. Share experiences that point to your relationship with God.
- Boasting in Christ: If someone compliments you on the way you handle a situation, glorify God by explaining that you sought his guidance in the matter. As we point to God’s work in our lives, the evidence of his grace, forgiveness, faithfulness, and attentiveness to us can create a hunger in other people’s hearts for such a relationship.
- Scripture: You may also find it helpful to list the fruit of self (Galatians 5:22-23) on a postcard or smartphone. Each day read the two lists and asks the Spirit to help you produce fruit compatible with your role as a minister of reconciliation. As conflicts, problems, and frustrations rise, look at the lists and pray for guidance.
You may need to pluck out the seeds of anger, defensiveness, or jealousy from your heart. If possible, wait a few hours, even a few days, before you respond to stuations. Allow the Spirit to plant the right seeds in your heart. WE SHALL NOT FAIL.
Lincoln ended his impassioned plea for the abolition of slavery with these famous words. “The result is not doubtful . We shall not fail – if we stand firm, we shall not fail. Wise councils may accelerate or mistakes delay it, but sooner or later the victory is sure to come”.
Romans 8:35 “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us (Romans 8:37).