Love!

Love!

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 1 Corinthians 13:4 NIV

The Context and Focus:

In a world where the word love has been quite misunderstood and misinterpreted, it is very important to go back to the original source and get the right definition. An online source defines love as: 'an intense feeling of deep affection'. This would mean that the person showing the love and the person being targeted will not deny the presence of deep affection. The person giving it cannot hide it, and the person being shown the affection can also not deny it. The target can choose to accept or reject it, but the affection cannot be denied. As great as this definition is, it is limited in the sense that it also encompasses other deep affection that is destructive and devilish. The world has added feelings of lust, incest and other forms of obsessions as love. The film industry has also helped push the nattative, showing premarital and extramarital sex, which, in the eyes of God is wrong, as 'making love'. The world also has this extreme position where its citizens define love by how much they can get from the 'giver' of this love. This is where you find expressions such as: "If you love me, you will do this or give me that". Love, from the perspective of the world, has become a transaction where all parties need to get something out before they can put something in. 

The Message:

It is therefore imperative to go back to the Source of all truth to find out what His view on love is. His truth is not subject to the acceptance or applause of men, and right from the creation of time as we know it, His definition of love has not changed. I can choose to accept or reject His definition, but I get to live with the consequences of my own decision. He provided the greatest view of love by his own example: "For God so loved the world that He gave....'. His definition of love did not wait for me to be deserving, or to first make a commitment to submit to and follow Him, before he gave. He gave first of all, so that I could know what I was getting even before deciding what to do. He got no initial guarantees that I would come to Him, but He gave all the same. To make matters even better, He didn't just give; he also gave Himself. God allowed His only begotten son to die a shameful death on a cross, for people who may reject him to the end. Is it then a wonder that all the attributes that are listed in the verse above are personal, not inanimate? You don't talk about a stone being patient or kind, or a wall being envious or boastful. 

The Conclusion:

This would mean that love, from God's perspective, and from Him who is the Truth, love is first a person, before you can talk about what He gives. Love is patient and kind, because God is patient and kind, and the dimensions of the fruit of the Spirit, which is birthed in all who surrender their lives to Jesus, also include patience and kindness. You get both sides of the divide: what love is and what love is not. God leaves no one in any doubt as to what His expectations and limits are. Whilst love is patient and kind, it means it has no room for envy or pride. You cannot have both sides coming out from the same heart. It is quite impossible for the Spirit of God to produce the fruit of the Spirit as well as the fruit of the flesh. I must therefore audit my life in light of God's truth, and ask God for help to allow his Spirit work on and in me. It has to be a daily surrender, because the devil will not stop putting pressure on me to blend in or compromise, but if I have had a personal encounter with this God of love, it is an experience you do not want to substitute for anything else. Have I met and do I know this love personally? Does He know me as His own? God's time of favour is here.