“And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments” (2 John 1:6a ESV).
If the Bible says love needs to be so central to our lives — let’s take a few moments to consider what love really is. 1. The Bible says love is a command. God commands that we love each other: “And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.” (1 John 4:21) You can’t always control an emotion, and God would never command you to do something that he doesn’t give you the power and the ability to do. That means that love is not a feeling. Imagine seeing a little kid who’s crying and upset, and saying: “I command you to be happy! I command you to stop crying!” You simply can’t command someone to feel a certain way. 2. The Bible says love is a choice. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 14:1, “Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy.” If you “pursue” something, that means you make a choice. Love is a choice. We choose to love or not to love. How many times have you heard of a man or woman try to justify a separation or divorce by saying, “I just don’t love my spouse anymore” — as if that’s totally out of their control. But acting in love when you don’t feel like it is actually a higher level of love than when you do feel like it. It’s one thing to love when the flowers are in bloom, but the real test of love is in the winter, when things are not going great in your life. You choose to love in spite of how you feel and give the other person what she needs, not what she deserves. You choose to love others like God loves us. 3. The Bible says love is a conduct. Love is something you do. The Bible says, “Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.” (1 John 3:18 ESV). Every day God puts opportunities around us to demonstrate love. The problem is most of the time we’re too busy. How many times have you thought, “I need to make a call; I need to encourage that person at work; I need to help my neighbor,” but then you missed the opportunity because something else came up? Love takes advantage of opportunities to serve others. 4. The Bible says love is a commitment. The Bible says in 1 John 4:16b, “God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.” (ESV). Our relationship with God is largely affected by our relationship with other people. If we commit to love and stay in love, then we will keep in one with our hearts with God, and he’ll stay one with us — because God is love.
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AuthorTaken from Daily Hope by Rick Warren. Categories
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