Love!

Love!

Beloved, if God loved us so [very much], we also ought to love one another. 1 John 4:11 AMPC

The Context and Focus:

Most of the best-selling novels and movies are themed on love. We see its different dimensions, interpretations and expressions in different ways across the entire human race. We also try to explain it in different ways based on our limited experience and exposure but there is no doubt that the reason why the subject of love is so powerful is due to its source, connection with the human race and the potential it has to be manipulated or faked. This is why it is very important to know what the true version is, so it is very easy to recognize and identity the false version. People do not try to imitate anything that is not powerful or impactful. People will not spend a fortune making movies or writing novels on topics that will not strike a chord in the hearts of people. This is why it is quite difficult for most people not to be emotionally invested in a movie that speaks on love between two people, particularly if there is opposition to the love from various quarters, and the 'love' seems to win at the end of the day. No matter how much the world speaks on the topic, it can never carry the same weight as what the Word has to say on the topic. 

The Message:

The Word is the true source of inspiration and information on what love truly means. Men can love you to the point where they can give their lives for you, but that only happens in limited editions, and the person laying his/her life down will be doing so for someone with an emotional connection, and who would have given reasons why the sacrifice would be worth it. It has a similar connection to what the original definition of love has done for us, but there are substantial differences. At the top is the fact that God's love had been in place long before I was born. God gave this love full and free, even with the knowledge of what my decision would be. He knows those who would reject or accept him to the end, yet He gave his life so that as many as would come to Him would take up his offer of life. I did not do anything at the time the love was freely given; in fact, there was nothing I could have done to earn or deserve it, yet He did it all the same.  Man's love would usually respond to reciprocation, and would not normally be given without conditions. God's love is different, in the sense that He gives his own without conditions, but then demands reciprocation from all who have come to experience this love. 

The Conclusion:

This is where the challenge is. God's love is given to me free, but when I receive and respond to this love, it births in me a desire to reciprocate and show it to other people. In fact, it is impossible for a person who has experienced the love of God to keep it to himself. There is no human equivalent to the love of God, because flesh and blood cannot replicate that which only God's Spirit can sustain. How can a man under the control and influence of the flesh love someone who treats him with disdain? How can a man without God's version of love pray for those who hate him? How can I respond to hate with love, if the seed of love has not been planted in me, to the point where it takes over my entire life? When life comes with its pressure and squeeze, my life will flow out with whatever has been stored up in me, whatever it is. If indeed His Spirit lives in me, my life must produce fruit that aligns with His presence in me. It becomes impossible not to bear fruit after your kind, where my life will look like the One in control of it. He has shown me the perfect example of what love is and I have the duty to show it to other people. God's version has been made known to all of us; how do we plead? God's time of favour is here.