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All about Love…

 

“This is my commandment: that you love one another (just) as I have loved you. No greater love ( no one has shown stronger affection) than to lay down (give up) his own life for his friends. ” – John 15:12, 13

As children of God, we are called to love others as Christ loves us. That means aggressively, selflessly, and sacrificially. Love is a choice and at times there is a cost to pay, but once you know the one who paid the price for you and is residing in you loving others is a natural response and overflow of the Love of Christ in you.

We can not love in accordance to how it serves us, we can not love with conditions, expectations, or requirements. When we are secure in the love of our Father we do not need the love of others or look to others to fill us- we are filled by the lover of our souls and out of His love for us we can love others. I have found the more you love God and allow Him to fill your heart the more your capacity to love is bigger.

There is no fear in love because His perfect love casts out fear (1 John 4:18). When we fear we are casting out His perfect love and trying to love out of our own strength and through our protective walls. Fear can come in the form of dependency (thinking you need someone or their love to be secure), self-protection (having walls up or shutting people out so you won’t get hurt), giving up (when things get hard don’t rely on His love or trust in the power of His love), self-serving (I’ll love you if…, I’ll love you when… I love you as long as…) all these things will only hinder the love of God flowing in us and through us. As children of God our love must look different than the world and must come from the creator of love, the embodiment of love, the God who is love that dwells in us.

This summer I remember one night after a foot washing that the Lord asked me a question. He asked, “would you still wash their feet if you knew they were going to betray you, reject you, wrong you, or accuse you?” a harder question was “what about those who have?” With tears down my face I said “yes” Lord because no matter what you love me and my life is not my own. I recalled Jesus washing the disciples feet (John 13:2-5) knowing that Judas was going to betray him yet He did not hold back from serving him, loving him, humbling himself before Him. Why? He knew His identity, He knew He belonged to the Father and His destiny and call (Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God- John 13:3). There is a place that we come to and sometimes through hurts in life to realize that all that matters is our relationship with the Lord and no matter what everything should reflect that we are secure in His love and we live out of that place of love and are able to love others the way Christ has loved us.

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself (Matt 22:37).” There seems to be a connection here- we can not love others until we allow the love of Christ to fill us and we can not love others the way Christ calls us to unless we love ourselves because we’ve received from Him. If there is guilt, un-forgiveness, records of wrongs, shame, un-worthiness or anything else that would hinder the love of Jesus than we will not be a channel for His love to flow through. 

This seems to hard, actually it seems impossible… where do we go, where do we turn, what do we cling to, where can we find the definition of love: THE CROSS!   When we know the power of the cross and the love that hung there for our sake we can not help but freely love.  We have heard many scriptures speaking of love such as:  freely we have received so freely give, those who have been forgiven much love much, love covers a multitude of sins, forgive as I have forgiven you, love one another, a friend loves at all times (the list goes on). When we know the truth it will set us free to love- when we believe the truth the fruit will be love- we can’t just know about the cross we must let it get us and receive the love that Jesus died for. We must look at everyone and every situation through the cross and that is where love will win over everything. We can look at one another and say “you don’t owe me anything” , you can give others what they don’t deserve (which is forgiveness), you can see them through the cross of redemption and as Christ sees them (w/out blemish) you can love everyone and anyone (not just those who love us back, but even our enemies, even those who have hurt us, even those who have failed us, disappointed us…).  When we look at others through the cross any wrong done is not remembered only grace and the love that says “paid for.” That is the Amazing love that brought Jesus to the cross, that allowed Him to suffer and hang there, and that is the power that allowed Him to rise again.
                                                                                   

My passion is to see people free… free from bondage, pain, sin, whatever would keep us from His love or hinder His love. The world is dying, hurting, broken, and in need of love… a love that is from a God who created this broken world, stepped down and redeemed it by hanging on the cross and taking our sin & shame. When we realize this truth and let the King of Glory step into our hearts- He is the one who will enable us to live a life of love. God has removed our heart of stone and given us a new heart of flesh that beats with the love of God. God is love: if we do not love than we are not showing people who Jesus is and why He died- we are neglecting the truth, the cross, the reason we were called, chosen, and redeemed.

Let us love…