Since Valentine’s Day is tomorrow, I thought it would be fitting to talk about love. Of course we show love differently based on who the person is to us. Our love for God, for a spouse, for children, for family, for a neighbor, for a friend, etc. will be different.
What is love? What is it not? What does God say about love? How do we love God, ourselves, and others? Is it a choice or a feeling? Love, despite what our society and culture might show us, is not a feeling, it is a choice.
Our Heavenly Father chose to send His son, Jesus, to die for our sins. He loved us so much that He chose to do that: to give His son for us as an atoning sacrifice (John 3:16, 1 John 4:10). 1 John 4:19 says, “We love because He first loved us.” Just like God chose to love us, we get the choice to love Him back, and to love others.
The Bible is full of passages about love, how to love, and what it is. One of the most familiar is found in 1 Corinthians where God tells us what love is, and what love is not:
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 says, “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, 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 perseveres.”
I don’t know about you, but I will be the first to admit that my love for others does not always reflect this example. This passage of Scripture convicts me and checks me: Am I being kind? Am I being selfless? Am I protecting this person? Am I being patient? Not always, no. I need God’s selflessness, patience, protection, guidance, grace, and love in order to love others how I should. If we are honest, we all need His help.
Loving others how Christ loves us is hard. It takes work. Any relationship takes work. Our relationship with God takes work and effort. We cannot grow in any relationship without talking with or spending time with that person. Our relationship with God is no different. We have to spend time with and talk with Him through prayer and His Word.
1 John 4:7-21 talks about God’s love for us and how we ought to love others:
God’s Love and Ours
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.
This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
We love because he first loved us. Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.
We are to love as Christ loves us. We have to show love to those around us. As Pastor Glen said in his sermon on Sunday, sometimes people do not deserve it, but it is our job to love them anyway. That is our command as followers of Christ. We did not deserve to be loved, yet Christ laid down His life for us because He loved us so much. Even though we were still sinners, broken and selfish, He chose to love us anyway. He set the ultimate example of love by laying down His life for us.
How can we lay down our life for others? John 15:12-13 commands us to love others as Christ loves us. It says the greatest love you can show someone is to lay down your life for your friend. What does that look like today? It might not be dying, or taking a bullet for someone. It could be putting their desires, hopes, dreams, needs, and/or wants before your own. It could be helping them. It could be covering them and protecting them by not gossiping about them. It could be being kind and showing love to them even when you do not feel like it, or even if they do not deserve it.
I challenge you this week as we celebrate Valentine’s Day to remember how much God loves you. He laid down His life for you. For you and for me! God’s never-ending and unconditional love never ceases to amaze me, and I am so grateful for it. I can choose to love Him in return. We are called to love others as Christ loves us. It can be difficult, but thanks be to God that He is our example, He is our teacher, and He is our friend. God is love.
Blessings,
