God’s Love and Ours
Where would you prefer to be?
Scenario 1: You walk in the door, receive a few superficial
hugs and immediately tense up as you spy that big old elephant still sitting on
the living room floor big as life, but everyone pretends it’s not there. The conversation is shallow as you remain in
the kitchen because the living room is still filled with things no one wants to talk about.
Scenario 2: You walk in the door, share several long,
sincere hugs, walk into the empty living room together, settle into your
favorite comfortable spot, and together fill the air with genuine conversation
and laughter.
When we feel we are loved and love in return, we are
connected. It is a comfortable place to be. We feel at home. The atmosphere is
one of belonging. Peace and contentment consume us.
I love feeling that way!
This love is not romantic in nature; it is simply acceptance
as is. It is unconditional, non-judgmental, genuine care and concern for
another, with no motive to change or manipulate, only to love.
Loving unconditionally is a challenge we all face, and especially difficult when dealing
with the "unlovable," yet the Bible is overflowing with verses on love; God’s
type of love.
1 John 4:16
And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives
in love lives in God and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among
us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this
world we are like Him.
Jesus loved and reached out in love regardless of the
individual’s status or behavior. We love because he first loved us. If
anyone says “I love God,” yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who
does not love his brother, whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen,
and He has given us this command: “Whoever loves God must also love his
brother.” (John 4:19-21)
In the book of Ephesians Chapters 1, 2 and 3, Paul speaks of
who we are as God’s Children. In 4, 5 and 6 he writes on the way we are to
conduct ourselves:
In your anger, do not sin. Do not let the sun go down while you are
still angry. (Ephesians 4:26)
Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, only what is helpful
for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who
listen. (Ephesians 4:29)
Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as
in Christ God forgave you. (Ephesians 4:32)
Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a
life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant
offering and sacrifice to God. (Ephesians 5:1-2)
Amen!
