04/30/2023
Love is many things, but more than just these things we feel and experience, it is spontaneous. We don't set out to love someone, it just happens, and if that spontaneity isn't present then it isn't love. How do we approach God? Is it in love, or out of need?
Paul tells us in First Corinthians about the various attributes of love. He isn't telling us so much how to love, but is rather describing what it is... if you feel these things and see these things, then it is love. If they must be contrived then it is something else and provides no anchor against the storms of life... nor is it rooted in faith.
“Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.”
1 Corinthians 13:4-8 ESV
The inexplicable moment of having fallen in love is a wonder of life. We don't know what has come upon us until it has suddenly happened. Sometimes it occurs in an instant, sometimes it grows during a long friendship, occasionally it happens where adversaries suddenly realize they have been fighting to stay out of a love and it reveals itself as being an overpowering force, but in all cases, there is a moment of awakening to love. We are suddenly faced with that instant in which we realize that we are in love; and it is wonderful.
Has this happened to you in regards to God? Did you instantly come to understand the depth of your relationship with Him? Were you busily practicing religion when suddenly the love of Jesus came upon you? Was there an epiphany, a Theophany, an instant, in which you suddenly knew His love for you and yours for Him? Did it transform you, and change your life?
“One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul. 15 And after she was baptized, and her household as well, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” And she prevailed upon us.”
Acts 16:14-15 ESV
Then, once we find ourselves in love we realize that all those things that Paul wrote about as being love are occurring naturally in our own relationship. We realize that we have been patient but hadn’t realized it; that we have lost the desire to be envious, boastful, or rude, and didn't fathom that we were placing the one we love before ourselves. All of these things, and more, we find are true. This epiphany regarding our love for God, also occurs towards ourselves, and others as well.
So quite often, serving God isn't something we just set out to do... it is a natural and often unconscious thing that occurs because we find ourselves in love with Him. When in love these things are not hardships, but joys. Serving isn't an imposition, but rather a gift of ourselves; otherwise, it is just a job, or a religious practice, and we find ourselves working for payment. Oswald Chambers said this too when he wrote these words:
"If we try to prove to God how much we love Him, it is a sure sign that we do not love Him. The evidence of our love for Him is the absolute spontaneity of our love, it comes naturally. In looking back we cannot tell why we did certain things, we did them according to the spontaneous nature of His love in us." - Oswald Chambers
Loving God and loving each other are manifestations of the same emotion. They may look different, but at their heart they are the same. Another interesting twist to love is this... Jesus didn't tell us to be nice to our neighbor; He told us to love them. He also told us to love them as we love ourselves... now that is an interesting thought.
“And [Jesus] said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
Matthew 22:37-39 ESV
Have you ever really explored the fact that you must love yourself? You may have heard someone say "I really don't like myself right now" after they have done something disappointing. This is an expression of the spirit's view of the physical nature of ourselves. Yes, our spiritual/physical dichotomy requires that we love ourselves, and God helps us in this regard. His Word teaches us outward behavior and strengthens our character to a point that our spiritual selves can not only tolerate who we are, but love who we are. Think about this today. Are you able to love yourself, and if not, what are you going to do about it?
Friends often find themselves loving one another. This is true in the world, in spirit, and within ourselves. So, the first step for someone who doesn't love themselves is to repair their physical workings to the point where they can at least like themselves. We do this by reading the Word of God, and practicing those things that improve us morally, and in character. By concentrating on them we begin to change who we are...
“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”
Philippians 4:8 ESV
After we begin to like ourselves a bit then we ask the Lord into our hearts, and that brings us to the place where we can at last love ourselves, and once we do that, then the ability to love others becomes possible.
“We love because he first loved us.”
1 John 4:19 ESV
If you have read this morning's thought and found a parallel between our love for God and the love you have for your spouse, you are right on the mark. That love of husband for wife and viva versa is more than a physical attraction... it is spiritual and requires the same care.
“Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,”
Ephesians 5:24-25 ESV
Are we ready to love our God, ourselves, our spouses, our neighbors, our friends, our enemies, and others?
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for the ability to love you have placed within me. I thank you for my being able to love you, myself, my spouse, my family, and all those around me. Lord, your gift of love is a foundation of my life and faith; in it I realize my greatest joys and deepest suffering. Help me Jesus to learn how to love even those who love me not. Guide me into the understanding of how you could love me... a sinner... even when I have been so detestable. Help me to love even as the sound of the hammer rings out across Calvary, and the pain is unfathomable. Your love abides in me and without that merciful gift my life would be unbearable. Thank you Holy Father for love, and loving; never let me take it for granted, and may my life demonstrate that love without effort, and in great joy. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you my God who loves me so.
Rich Forbes