Love!

Love!

Beloved, if God so loved us [in this incredible way], we also ought to love one another. 1 John 4:11 AMP

We have an incredible example to emulate and to pattern our lives after. We see the heart of an eternal Father revealed to those he calls his children, mortal and weak men, but who have personally had a life-changing encouter with his heart of love. The first word here reveals the target of today's message, and it is those referred to as the Beloved: deeply loved. Not the usual kind of affection you have for people generally, but a heart that yearns for the target of the love. God calls me his beloved: someone he has set his deep love on. It comes with a sense of purpose, as well as responsibility. It demands a response or a reaction from me.

It was this deep affection that made God give up his one and only Son for my sake. He did not wait for me to be worthy; in fact, my being worthy was not even the reason why He did what he did in the first place. He knew that some people will reject his gift to the end, yet He went on and gave his life. He knew some will spurn his love, yet for the sake of all who would embrace his love, He knew the sacrifice would be worth it. For the sake of all of mankind, He died. That is love: not waiting for the target to be worth it first, but by the love shown,drawing men to Himself and granting them eternal life by their acceptance of the love shown.

He has laid down the example, and He expects me to follow suit. I do not have to guess how to love but I simply have to follow His lead and live and love as He did. I am not to wait for the 'right' response or attitude before I love, but to simply love people, because it is all I have to give. I can only give out of the abundance I have stored up, and if it is God's love that fills my heart, no matter how hard you press me, all that I will produce will be in line with what I have. Fortunately, God has not placed a limit on the status, colour, race or language of people I can love. He has also not given any limit as to the value of the love I must give. 

As long as it proceeds out of a heart that knows what it has already obtained from God, God will bless it and it will impact lives. As long as it comes from a heart that appreciates the sacrifice that brought it into this new grace, there is no room for pride, self-sufficiency or superiority complex. Humility and a deep appreciation of what I have received become the new normal for the Beloved. Am I truly one? Have I embraced this love? What is God expecting from me? I am His eyes, hands, ears and heart. Is my life a daily testament to the love of God? Is His love my daily reality? God's time of favour is here.