WHY and HOW!

WHY and HOW!

We love him, because he first loved us.

1 John 4:19 KJV

For all who are alive, we are a function of our background, as well as our experiences. We are defined by our values and allegiances, and men seek to define us by our pursuits and priorities. I believe God does the same, but He runs by fundamentally different standards. Men love other men simply because there is something to base that love on. We are nice to people who are nice to us, or we go the other extreme by being nice to people simply because we need something from them. That is the way of the world, but certainly not the way God works.

At the time we were shown love, there was practically nothing valuable we could offer God in return. We couldn't work hard for the love; we could not earn it; we could not force it. Yet, at a time when we didn't care who He was, God showed his love. Long before I even knew I needed help, He was there by my side, offering His blood to cleanse me from my sin, offering His life in exchange for the death that had become my portion due to sin, and sealing eternal life for me, even whilst I was still living through the earthly phase. That is love like no other: giving all, even when the target of the love didn't even understand what was at stake.

God, who showed this love, knew what was at stake. He knew the power of sin, but He also knew the power of his love. God knew that His love was stronger, deeper and higher than sin, and that is why His love flows freely to all who will accept. And of course, if you have received His love, you cannot contain it or bottle it up. It has to flow out of you. It becomes a spring; fresh and clean, not based on popular opinion, but on the ever-constant mercy of God Himself. 

And because we have received His love, we can love others without pretence. We are able to overlook faults because we have also been forgiven much. We love, because we are also loved. What flows out of us is a measure of the love that we ourselves have received of God. When men come in contact with you, what flows out? What is the lasting impression that people leave with when they have met you: is it love as defined by God, or just simply selfishness and a desire to be better than others? Do not forget: eternity is at stake here. Your choices and decisions today will impact that future. His time of favour is here.