God is Love
Love: the steadfast, sacrificial zeal that seeks the true good of another
Last night we were doing a class and agape love was the subject. Agape love is pure, unselfish love. Love that isn’t self-seeking or dependent on another person or circumstance.
This love is special and uncommon in today’s world. It is how God loves His people, and how He wants His people to love each other.
1 Corinthians 13
More than likely, we are all familiar with the love chapter found in the Bible. Often referenced during weddings, it paints a beautiful picture of how love is meant to be.
“Love is patient, love is kind, it is not jealous; love does not brag, it is not arrogant. It does not act disgracefully, it does not seek its own benefit; it is not provoked, does not keep an account of a wrong suffered, it does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; it keeps every confidence, it believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails;… -1 Corinthians 13:4-8
Love isn’t casual or frivolous, but rather deep, meaningful, and holy. True love is not for the weak. It’s not a warm, fuzzy feeling that comes and goes, but rather a serious commitment to give your best for others – even when it is difficult. To truly love means to choose others over yourself and your own comforts, again and again. It means to follow and trust God instead of trying to pave your own way.
All of this, with an unselfish spirit, in every area of life. Our job as Christians is to reflect God’s love and in order to be good representatives, we must work to understand it!
God is Love
Here is an exciting element I hadn’t considered. We all know God is love. That is probably the first Bible verse I memorized and it is written on my heart. I don’t doubt, nor have I ever doubted, that God is love. His love is inescapable, immeasurable, even incomprehensible – and yet I want to spend my life and my efforts learning more about this perfectly wonderful gift of love!
Now here is the new element I hadn’t considered – let’s back up just a bit first though. In school, I learned that “is” means “equals”. So if we were writing equations, we would write God = Love. Now imagine that we were to take those verses about love above and rewrite them exchanging the word God for love? These verses tell us an amazing depth of God’s being!
“God is patient, God is kind, He is not jealous; God does not brag, He is not arrogant. He does not act disgracefully, He does not seek His own benefit; He is not provoked, does not keep an account of a wrong suffered, He does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; He keeps every confidence, He believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. God never fails;…” – borrowed from 1 Corinthians 13:4-8
What a phenomenal picture this paints of God and His love for us! Ooh that we may work harder to represent Him better!
Without Love We are Nothing
To sum it up, without love we are nothing. 1 Corinthians demonstrates this in a number of verses. We can have all faith and understand mysteries, yet without love, it is meaningless. Even if we were to give all of our possessions to the poor and be the most holy of people but lacked love, it is all rendered worthless.
True love is the most important thing in the world! God sent His son to die for us because He loved us. We must be our best and love others well, unselfishly and wholeheartedly to show Him our gratitude and to reflect Him well. Not because it is easy or all sunshine and roses, but rather to show our love for Him!
I pray these words, these Bible verses give you a new dimension of love. A new appreciation for God and His ways.
Until Next Time!
Hope.
PS. Keep reading: https://www.theamericanlady.com/2020/11/11/love-never-gives-up/