God is Love

Bible Reading: 1 Corinthians 13 and to go deeper 1 John 4:7-21

Focus Verse: "We love because he first loved us." 1 John 4:19 and "By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." John 13:35

We love.  Why are Christians to be known by our love? (John 13:35)  The root of the answer is because God is love. (1John 4:8)  Notice that I said that God IS love and that is better than God loves because love is not just something that God does, but it is the essence of who He is. 

Because God is unfailing love, He would not leave us in our sin, but sent his only son Jesus, to take the sin punishment in our place. (John 3:16)  No greater love is there than this. The failure in humanity (sin) was a reason to love all the more, because it is needed and not because it is deserved.

Because we have been redeemed and have experienced the greatest love known to mankind, we can, in turn love others as God has commanded us to do.  Love, even if love isn't returned. (2 Cor. 12:15)

Because our flesh often gets in the way due to our selfishness, pride, self-righteousness, and unforgiveness, loving others can be a challenge and we often do a poor job of representing our role as a Christian.  Paul so loved the Corinthians that though they didn't love him in return, he continued to love them. (2 Corinthians 12:15)

Because we are not left alone in our struggle to love one another, we can allow the Holy Spirit to show us our sin and convict us of the lack of love in our lives.  We can approach God in confession and ask Him to work in our hearts to love others as the Holy Spirit equips us to do so.

Love should be who we are.  Loving others is not our achievement to be proud of, but the work of God in our lives that we can praise Him for.  Love should be flowing through so that others may understand our Heavenly Father and praise Him.  We love imperfectly, but God loves perfectly.

A few years ago I went to a funeral of a lady named Pearl.  She was not considered accomplished by the world's standards, but her legacy was that of love.  She cared for the very small children in the church as their parents could go to worship without being disturbed.  She loved each child completely and they each thought they were favored.  I know this well, because she also cared for my children and they knew that she loved them well.  She loved the parents and the pastors.  She loved in a way that was not just flat, but deeply, even telling truth in love sometimes. A failure in another person was her reason to love all the more because it was needed, not because it's deserved.  She loved.  God is love, therefore we love.

Page Johnson
Interlocking Ministries