The world is obsessed with love. If you turn on a movie, listen to a song, or open a book, I guarantee you will find a theme about love. We are constantly searching for love. And I think we should be obsessed with love. But not the kind of love that is often superficial and fantasy like that we see so frequently. And don’t get me wrong, I love a good Rom-Com or cheesy holiday film! But we should be obsessed with God’s love because God’s nature is love.
Read Me Next! – The Sacrificial Nature Of God
What God Teaches Us About Love
”Love is patient, love is kind. Love does not envy, is not boastful, is not arrogant, is not rude, is not self-seeking, is not irritable, and does not keep a record of wrongs. Love finds no joy in unrighteousness but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end.“
God demonstrates what love is to us in His Word. Isn’t it amazing that when we read about what love is in the bible, it reveals the nature of God?
- Love never ends – God is the beginning and the end
- Love finds no joy in unrighteousness – God is just and righteous
- Rejoices in the truth – God IS truth
- Is Not Self-Seeking – God is Sacrificial
These are the very characteristics of God. But God’s love also holds a mirror up to our hearts and shows us who we are. When we first begin to read 1 Corinthians, we feel good, we connect with what it is saying. Love is patient, Love is kind…We say yes! Those things make us feel good. However, as we move along, we can get a little shaky in our agreement with what love is.
- Does Not Keep A Record Of Wrongs – FORGIVENESS
- Finds No Joy In Unrighteousness – CORRECTION & JUDGEMENT
Forgiveness can seem unfair at times and we don’t like to speak about the judgment of God. No, we want to stick to the feel-good qualities. But love without correction is not love at all. As a mother, I understand even more now the importance of guiding my child. In parenthood, there are times when we just want to let our children do what they want, stay up past bedtime, eat all of the snacks in the house, and watch as much TV as they would like, because they are enjoying themselves, they seem so happy, they’re having fun, and we want them to have freedom. But true freedom is found in SUBMISSION because in submission you find provision, protection, and wisdom.
Love Is Sacrifice
Therefore, there is no love without sacrifice. You learn to sacrifice that your child may be upset with you for a few seconds, you learn to sacrifice your desire to appear as the “fun parent” in your child’s eyes. Remember, love is NOT self-seeking. You have been entrusted with your child’s life and how to steward it. So love isn’t only about the easy things or the feel-good things. It’s also about the hard things. It can be difficult to let a trusted friend hold up a mirror to yourself. To receive correction. To receive the truth. But if you refuse to receive truth, then you refuse God. Love is always an act and an act that isn’t always easy. So you have to ask yourself, do you know love and do you know God?
Scripture To Mediate On
“The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
“And we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and the one who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him.”
With Love,
Tamara
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References:
Scripture quotations marked CSB have been taken from the Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible® and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.
