Today's devotional
Love is a verb, contrary to the fact that most people consider it to be an emotion. It's not so much about how you FEEL as about what you DO.
"Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another." (1 John 4.7-11)
The call to love one another, based on God's example and precedent, is far more than warm feelings for one another. It is not a call to invoke emotion, but rather definitive action. It is well stated in the previous chapter: "let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth." (1 John 3.18)
Genuine love is costly. It involves something of sacrifice, and service. The precedent is clearly seen in the best-known Bible verse - John 3.16: "for God so loved the world that He gave ..." Imagine that His love was only expressed in fond feelings for us from a distance. I shudder to think how utterly lost we would be if that were the extent of His love!
The call to love one another is a call to deliberate action and strategy. It is not unreasonable for us to ask ourselves, then: What specific steps and plans do I have in place for actively loving the people of God? If someone were to look at my schedule, plans, and activities this day, would it be abundantly clear that active love is my priority? Would there be evidence of sacrificial love in action?
There is an old saying that "love isn't love until you give it away". The love we are called to exhibit - agape, from the Greek language - is exactly that, and is precisely described by Jesus: "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends."
May the love we exhibit to and for the people of God be actively expressed through humble service.
Steve
Be sure to also visit http://thetruthrevolution.wordpress.com/
"Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another." (1 John 4.7-11)
The call to love one another, based on God's example and precedent, is far more than warm feelings for one another. It is not a call to invoke emotion, but rather definitive action. It is well stated in the previous chapter: "let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth." (1 John 3.18)
Genuine love is costly. It involves something of sacrifice, and service. The precedent is clearly seen in the best-known Bible verse - John 3.16: "for God so loved the world that He gave ..." Imagine that His love was only expressed in fond feelings for us from a distance. I shudder to think how utterly lost we would be if that were the extent of His love!
The call to love one another is a call to deliberate action and strategy. It is not unreasonable for us to ask ourselves, then: What specific steps and plans do I have in place for actively loving the people of God? If someone were to look at my schedule, plans, and activities this day, would it be abundantly clear that active love is my priority? Would there be evidence of sacrificial love in action?
There is an old saying that "love isn't love until you give it away". The love we are called to exhibit - agape, from the Greek language - is exactly that, and is precisely described by Jesus: "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends."
May the love we exhibit to and for the people of God be actively expressed through humble service.
Steve
Be sure to also visit http://thetruthrevolution.wordpress.com/
posted by steve @ 9:56 AM
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