11/22/2021
The apostle Paul loved the Thessalonian church and encouraged its members to love others just as he and his disciples loved them, but there is more to the love he describes to them than fondness and emotion. Paul says that if they love one another, and others, as he does them, then their hearts will be made blameless, and holy when Jesus returns to claim his Church. So how are we doing in this regard? Are we allowing the Lord to grow us in love, and make us blameless in it for others? Will God see us this way in judgement when Jesus returns to claim His Bride? We ask all of this to ask the larger question… Does our love make us holy?
“and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you, so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.”
1 Thessalonians 3:12-13 ESV
Many people claim they love, or are in love, but does their love set them apart from the world to be used by God? Are they made holy by it? We hear the word love all the time, but most of the time it is trivialized. We go to breakfast and someone says they love bacon, we watch a sporting event and we hear another say that they love how a particular team, can dominate a game, or we see a beautiful sunset and say that it is lovely. None of these expressions is the kind of love that Paul is referring to, none of them is holy… and by saying holy we mean that it is dedicated, consecrated, and set apart for the use of God. So do we love as Our Holy Father loves us… with a holy love?
“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.”
1 John 4:7-9 ESV
Satan has convinced the world that love is far less than what it is, and specifically in the commandment that we love God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength. We are meant to love with a love that is of Him, and sets us apart for His use. R.C. Sproul said this so succinctly when he wrote these words…
“Long ago, Augustine of Hippo pointed out that the desire of every human heart is to experience a love that is transcendent. Regrettably for us today, however, I don’t think there’s any word in the English language that’s been more stripped of the depth of its meaning than the word love.” R.C. Sproul
We are meant to be made holy by our love, and although we can like inanimate objects, and sunsets can move us emotionally, we can only love them in as much as we see God reflected in them. As an example… we can’t love a cross, but we can love the reflection of Jesus Christ we see in our hearts when we look at one. We can’t love a sunset, but we can love how we see God and His glory in one. We are meant to worship God who our spirit sees in His creation, and love Him… not the creation itself.
“For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.”
Romans 1:20-21 ESV
So we can see how our love for God, and Jesus Christ, can make us holy, but how can our love for one another do this? Well, to answer this question let’s look at how a man loves his wife. Does he love her as he should, with a love that cleanses her, and sets her apart in a holy way? Beyond this, does their love for one another take on the attribute of God’s love for them; making them holy before Him by their godly dedication to one another, the covenant they made before the Lord in marriage, and by loving one another just as God loves each of them?
“Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.”
Ephesians 5:25-27 ESV
So today we ask ourselves what we consider love, and more than this we ask if we are being made holy by it. Are we seeing God in His creation and then loving Him, and not the creation itself? Are we feeling love for one another, not as the world desires us to experience it, as carnal pleasure and satisfaction, but as God loves us?
Prayer:
Father, thank you for loving us, and in this way setting us apart as your children, loved as you love your Son Jesus. Thank you Lord for giving us the ever increasing gift of your love that we are meant to have for one another, and which sets us apart in holiness. Help us Father to love you more, and to love those about us. Hear our prayers as we lift up our hearts unto you, and pray that our love for others be made perfect through Jesus. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God in whom all love exists, and is made known. Praised be your name Father for every instance in which I am led to love as you do,and for my spouse in whom I give and receive your love in full. Merciful are you to forgive when what I call love is misdirected, and when your love within me stumbles, or falters. Your grace is sufficient for me, and your love the established image of Christ who abides in me. Wash me clean of sin by the blood of Jesus, shed by His obedience to you, and through your perfect love that flows as living water from Him. See me as righteous, and holy, on the day of His return, and allow me to remain in your loving presence forevermore.
Rich Forbes