A very well-known and popular verse in the Bible is 1 John 4:18, which states that God is love. This Greek word for love is "agape". Agape is a different type of love; different from other translations that mean brotherly love or close friendship. This love means self-sacrifice. One writer defines it as the willingness to forgo personal pleasures or undergo personal trials in the pursuit of increased good of another. It is the act of exalting others no matter what; no matter if they seem to deserve it or not. No matter if they screw up or don't appreciate you. It is an act of exalting them and counting them worthy of sacrifice and service. That is the kind of love that describes God: the essence of who He is.
What if we lived like we knew this was true? What if, having been restored to God, we truly lived life like God is love; like He loves us in a sacrificial, unearned way? I bet we wouldn't walk around like He doesn't exist, or worse, that He does but that He could never truly love us. I bet our deepest longings would be stilled. I bet we would be more loving with others because we're so dang loved ourselves. I bet we would feel more inclined to go sit before God and talk to Him in a real and authentic way.
I challenge us now to make the truth that God is love and that He truly loves us in a sacrificial way to be the center of our being. Let's not make our lives about trying harder because that is somehow going to make God love us more. Rather, let's slow down and talk to Him because He loves talking back to us. Let's spend time with Him. He is not above that -- He created us for that.
And now let's allow His word to do the rest of the talking:
"All who rage against you
will surely be ashamed and disgraced;
those who oppose you
will be as nothing and perish,
Though you search for your enemies,
you will not find them.
Those who wage war against you will be as nothing at all.
For I am the LORD, your God, who takes hold of your right hand
and says to you, Do not fear;
I will help you.
Do not be afraid, O worm Jacob,
O little Israel,
For I myself will help you," declares the LORD,
your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.
Isaiah 41:11-14
Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
1 John 4:7-8
What if we lived like we knew this was true? What if, having been restored to God, we truly lived life like God is love; like He loves us in a sacrificial, unearned way? I bet we wouldn't walk around like He doesn't exist, or worse, that He does but that He could never truly love us. I bet our deepest longings would be stilled. I bet we would be more loving with others because we're so dang loved ourselves. I bet we would feel more inclined to go sit before God and talk to Him in a real and authentic way.
I challenge us now to make the truth that God is love and that He truly loves us in a sacrificial way to be the center of our being. Let's not make our lives about trying harder because that is somehow going to make God love us more. Rather, let's slow down and talk to Him because He loves talking back to us. Let's spend time with Him. He is not above that -- He created us for that.
And now let's allow His word to do the rest of the talking:
"All who rage against you
will surely be ashamed and disgraced;
those who oppose you
will be as nothing and perish,
Though you search for your enemies,
you will not find them.
Those who wage war against you will be as nothing at all.
For I am the LORD, your God, who takes hold of your right hand
and says to you, Do not fear;
I will help you.
Do not be afraid, O worm Jacob,
O little Israel,
For I myself will help you," declares the LORD,
your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.
Isaiah 41:11-14
Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
1 John 4:7-8
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