1 Corinthians 13:4
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
How can anyone love like that? Love is what should define Christians. It should be our calling card. It is far more than earthly expressions of longing and passion. It is an action that we premeditate to give to others because our Creator and Savior has lavished his love on us when we deserved judgment.
John 3:16 tells us how God sent Jesus to save us and its preamble tells us that “God so loved the world…”
We find in John 6:8:
8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
Love is God, and he wants a relationship with us. He is the source of love and only in relationship with him can we truly love the way we are intended to. His love is unfailing. He has demonstrated that love for us even when we were sinners and far off his path. He took the punishment we deserve for our unfaithfulness to Him. Jesus bore the shame of the cross and wrote the greatest love letter ever written. His full measure of love was poured out for you and me. This undeserved favor lavishes us with new life, a forgiven heart and a love from here to eternity. You might say he loves us to life. And so His love compels us to do the same for those around us. We are commanded to show that we know him by loving those around us in unfailing ways. That includes those that are a challenge to love. After all, maybe they still need to experience His eternal love. This world has been permanently changed by Christ’s love flowing through his followers touching and changing lives in places that are dark and difficult because His love compels us to love like Him. Let God work through you to let people know that LOVE is the WORD, and the WORD is a person, and that person is JESUS.
