Different people have very different ideas about what love is. Some people would describe it as a romantic idea of a feeling that they might have towards another, others would think of the almost unbreakable bond with a brother or sister, whereas some would think of the sacrificial love of a mother or father for their children.
Love can be a fleeting thing or last a lifetime. Love is shown in very different ways also. For some it is an extravagant gift, for others it is shown through a handmade gift. It can be demonstrated through loyalty or a demonstrable statement, it can be quietly providing or always there to listen in a time of need.
Some people make the great mistake of thinking that they show love by letting their loved ones get away with things. This never works, many people are selfish and if they get away with something, they will often repeat their misdemeanour, this often causes further hurt.
Some parents think that overlooking their child’s faults is loving, however this just creates spoilt children, who if uncorrected, will carry many of these faults into adulthood.
We need to consider our behaviours. In Proverbs chapter 14 verse 12 we are told that, ‘There is a way that seems right to a man’. So, we may well have a notion that we can behave as we see fit yet be bringing harm to ourselves and to others. We need to be warned about it. God does this in the second part of that verse, ‘but its end is the way of death!’ That is a stark warning. God is warning us, because Heloves us, it might be
tough love, but heeding the warning may well save us from eternal death.
God has shown His love to us in other ways too, in fact, in Romans chapter 5 verse 8 tells us how He has demonstrated His most amazing love, it tells us, ‘Christ died for us!’ To die to save someone is a huge display of love and this is the perfect Son of God dying for us! The rest of the verse says that He died, ‘While we were still sinners!’ It would have been amazing if He had died for those that were attempting to live perfect lives, or those that had turned over new leaves, but He died for us while we were still sinning. Our sin offends God, He hates it, and even if we tried to be sinless, we would fail as we all sin. He still loved us and Christ died to save us.
1 John chapter 4 verse 10 tells us what love is, but it is not our love for God. We should love God more, for He supplies us with so many blessings, some that we do not even realise, some we just take for granted. The verse expresses what love actually is, it is that He loved us. When I consider why God loved me, I really struggle to understand. What is loveable about me a sinner who offends God time and time again?
There is nothing that a righteous, holy God could love. Naturally I would go my own way and ignore God’s way, I would wonder away like a straying sheep! So why does God love me and love you with this immense, indescribable, extreme love? The answer has to be that He loves me because He chose to love me!
I have responded to the love of God and the sending of His Son, Jesus Christ to die for me, by trusting in His Son and turning from my sin to Him. I love Him because He first loved me. How do you respond to His great unconditional love?
DAILY MESSAGES WITH MEANING (09/10/24)
Written by STUART SCAMMELL
All photos courtesy of Unsplash or personally taken
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