TRUE LOVE
Written by Caroline C.

Most people in the world today have the wrong idea of what love is. They confuse infatuation with real love. Infatuation and love are two very different things. When someone is infatuated they are so carried away with another person that they do not know what is going on around them. They cannot think straight. They are sexually attracted to the other person. A sexual attraction leads to lust, not love. Lust is selfish, and ruins the lives of the people involved.

Real love is a very precious thing. It does not come from a sexual attraction, but from a strong, well-grounded friendship. Through real love you love every aspect of the other person, not just what you see on the outside. You enjoy being with that person and can share many things with them. Real love is unselfish, and caring. It doesn’t give up when things are not going right. It brings the best out of you. You will not be lazy or dreamy. You will work hard, and try to do your best for the one you love. Real love is not just a wonderful feeling, it is a relationship that grows, strengthened, and bonds together so tightly that nothing can ever pull it apart or cause it to break down.

When you think of love, you usually think of a warm, fuzzy feeling inside. You think of two people who “fall in love.” You may even think of a certain person in association with that word. Although these are considered the “normal” definitions of love, true love from God is quite different. His love goes beyond feeling to action. Let's read 1 John 4:7-21.

“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.”

“Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. We love, because He first loved us. If someone says, 'I love God,' and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also.”

In this passage John is writing to believers to tell them of God's love. He begins his address by telling them to love each other. Love comes from God. He gives His love to us so we can love others the way He loves us. Everyone who loves as God does is a child of God. Everyone who does not love, does not know God personally.

God's love is not empty. He acts upon His love. “By this the love of God is revealed in us: that God has sent his one and only Son into the world” “to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.” God's love for worthless sinners was so great that He could not leave us in that condition. Instead, He sent His Son to pay the price of sin for us. Since God has done so much for us we ought to love in return. He commands us to love fellow Christians. When we love, we demonstrate the love of God to the world. Dear friends, “if God so loved us, then we also ought to love one another.” “If anyone says 'I love God' and yet hates his fellow Christian, he is a liar, because the one who does not love his fellow Christian whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And the commandment we have from him is this: that the one who loves God should love his fellow Christian too.”

We cannot say we love God when we hate another Christian. That is hypocrisy! “[T]he one who does not love his fellow Christian whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.” God loved us when we were no good and made a way for us to reflect His perfection. “God is love, and the one who resides in love resides in God, and God resides in him. By this love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment, because just as Jesus is, so also are we in this world.” Now we do not have to fear death or the judgment day to come, because God has loved us and made us His own. “[W]e have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.” “God is love”, so we should “love because he loved us first.”

“O love of God, how rich and pure!
“How measureless and strong!
“It shall forevermore endure
“The saints’ and angels’ song.”
 

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This page was last modified on Thursday, September 02, 2010