Whoever lives in love lives
in God
The word “love” is mentioned
in the Bible over 500 times; God surely considers love essential to our lives. God is love. Without love we are lost. One of the first Scriptures in
the Bible to stress “love” is (Deuteronomy 6:5) where Moses instructs us to; “Love the Lord your God with all your heart
and with all your soul and with all your strength.” Love begins with God. “We love because He first loved us” (1
John 4:19).
Do you remember your first
“love?” I do! Her name was Jeri and she was my very first
“girlfriend” back in fifth grade. I would do anything to impress her, like try
to kick the volleyball over the school fence, hang upside down from the monkey
bars, and make strange “faces” for her. Back then I believed I loved her…I did
as a 9 or 10 year old boy could. I made her several valentines that year even
beyond Valentine’s Day!
Now, fifty-something years later,
I have a more memorable “girlfriend” and she is my lovely wife Sally. I am
proud to say, I love her! And I wish I could proclaim we first met in fifth
grade, but we didn’t meet until later in our adult lives.
We are all to love each other
just as Jesus said in (John 15:12) “Love each other as I have loved you.” Do we have
to know each other to love each other? No. In fact, I seem to remember a saying
that declares “love knows no stranger.” We should never look upon a stranger
with dislike or disregard for we are all of the family of God; brothers and
sisters in Christ. The world (Satan) has taught us to hate and despise each
other, to be suspicious of each other. I think it a terrible shame, but true
(sigh.)
What is love? God instructed the apostle Paul to speak of love in
(1 Corinthians 13:1) saying, “And now I will
show you the most excellent way.” In verses 4-7 of the same chapter we learn; “Love is patient,
love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not
rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of
wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices in truth. It always
protects, always trusts, always hopes, always preserves.”
Who do you love? Go and tell
them…it pleases God, and I promise it will bless you.