“Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.”
1 John 4:7-8
This verse is clear. God is the source of love, since “love comes from God” and “God is love.” It is also a verse to contemplate in order to understand its meaning. We will never fully understand God’s love. We will never fully understand God, for that matter. And yet, we should live each day experiencing God’s love.
Poet and author the late Dr. Maya Angelou famously wrote, “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did. But people will never forget how you made them feel.” Genuine love makes one feel valued, worth the effort and time.
Have you heard or said yourself, “I can love from a distance”? This expression is about keeping difficult persons emotionally at bey. It’s a common response to hurt, offense or disappointment. However this sentiment does not pass the valued-worth-time-and-effort test. Worst of all, it opens the door to irreparable reconciliation.
You can be in close physical proximity with someone. You can even help someone who has a need and yet still be emotionally detached. Although you helped, it was not out of love. The help was out of guilt, obligation or arrogance.
God is not motivated to emotionally love us. Although we are undeserving, God is motivated to always see us at our best and do what is best — a practical way to define divine love.
Admittedly, this is a tall order for us. We see people’s faults and failings as justification to love on our terms, not God’s. Nevertheless, God’s love should always be our goal.
Motivation is key. If you’re not motivated by what I call the “best” test, then expressing and showing genuine love will be a challenge. However, heed John’s words. This type of love is “from God”, “for God is love.”
When we choose not to love and yet claim to be Christian, it’s an indication our relationship with the Lord is not what it should be. Simply put, to know God is to know His love and “anyone who does not love does not know God…” (I John 4:7b).
The apostle John wrote this letter to the church located in Ephesus because even as Christians, they were not showing God’s kind of love. Yet his tone is not “I order you to love your brothers and sisters in Christ or else!” Instead John asks, “Why do you not love your fellow Christians?”
This is a call to self-examination. The harsh reality is this. When we fail to love, yet claim to know God’s love in our lives, then we contradict our own testimony. We easily squander the merits of God’s love more than we realize.
So, I cannot overemphasize “God is love.” God did not learn how to love or adopt love as a practical good. Get this. God does not merely choose to love. God is love! This claim is the nature of God. We tout God’s many titles. Why not boast about God’s very being that cannot fully be explained but definitely experienced — love?
True, God is capable of showing love. Most of all, God is love. God sees us at our best and does what is best, because He has our best interests at heart.
Until next time,
Keep the Faith
Anita