LOVE, LOVE, LOVE

I thought with Valentine's Day coming up it would be applicable to write another post on LOVE. Everywhere I turn from my own personal quiet time with the Lord, to music, church and in conversations with others the Lord keeps highlighting a theme to me...LOVE. Not sappy teenage puppy love, but real love...the love of Christ. The kind of love that dies to self. The kind of love placing others first, no matter what they have or have not done to deserve it.

Jesus commands us to love in John 15:12, "This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you." Now before you go thinking to yourself this is an impossibly tall order to fill, to love as Jesus does...remember if it were impossible He wouldn't have commanded it. But, like many issues I write about, to fulfill this commandment will require you to be in relationship with the Source of perfect love...Jesus.

The command to love one another as Christ loves us can NOT be done out of self-effort. Do I need to repeat that? I thought so. You can NOT love as Christ loves out of determination, will or self-effort. To love as Christ will require a secure relational connection between you and the One who is Love. Only when you truly accept the love of Christ will you be able to effectively love others with the same love.

I addressed this concept of love in several of my parenting posts. If you aren't a parent and you skipped over the parenting series you might want to give reading them a chance...yes, they are focused on parenting, but the skills taught in the Loving On Purpose model can be applied to any relationship...not just parent/child. You can start the series here. After you finish reading this post, of course:)

What is this love I keep referencing? It is beautifully defined in I Corinthians 13:4-8:

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails."

I John 4:8 tells us God is love. So I want to take the above passage of scripture and replace the word "love" with God. I've done this before in an article I have written and it makes this passage come even more alive for me. It also reveals to us the true character of God.

"God is patient, God is kind. God does not envy, He does not boast, He is not proud. God is not rude, He is not self-seeking, He is not easily angered, He keeps no record of wrongs. God does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. God always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. God never fails."

There have been seasons in my life where I needed to hear one or more of these character traits of God. When I've walked through seasons of fear (which has been much of my life) I needed to hear and know God always protects. When sin in my life seems so great I feel it may swallow me whole and I don't feel worthy to be called a daughter of the King, I need to know He is not keeping a record of my wrongs. But out of all these revelations what I needed to know most is God is not easily angered. I had a wrong image of Father God for years. I saw Him as Abraham Lincoln's monument in Washington, DC...stone, hard, cold, frowning and unapproachable...like He was mad at me and everyone else for that matter. As I studied the scriptures and encountered Papa God for the first time I realized this image I had in my mind wasn't accurate at all. I hope to share these encounters with you soon.

I digress, shocking (picture sarcastic smile here)...by now you are probably getting use to my posts taking turns down rabbit trails:) So back to loving like Christ...

As I shared in one of the parenting posts I have been guilty of loving conditionally. I have loved when it's been convenient for me, when there's something for me in return...and I have withheld love when I'm angry at someone. This is not real love, certainly not how Christ loves us and is further evidence perfect love doesn't come from our strength. If you are reading this and are feeling conviction, Holy Spirit is speaking to you. Simply turn to the Father and repent, accept His sweet forgiveness and ask Him to show you how to love others unconditionally.

On the other hand, if you are reading this and are feeling condemnation, that is the voice of the enemy. Satan would like to keep you in a place of condemnation so you are paralyzed and not able to move forward in the way God wants. Take this lie captive, replace it with God's truth found in Romans 8:1. You have a choice...there were and are two trees in the garden...choose the tree of life.

If you have chosen the tree of life I have a challenge to pose to you. Purpose this week to love the unlovable...the person driving the car who cuts you off, your cranky toddler, your fussy newborn, your rebellious teenager, your wayward spouse, your emotionally abusive spouse, the father who left you and your mother when you were a child, the rude sales clerk, the person on the side of the street begging for money...I could go on and on, but I think you get the point.

I believe LOVE is the most powerful weapon we have. Love displaces fear and allows the power of God to flow through people. I want to close with telling you of a movie called, "Furious Love." The director's purpose in making this film was to test the love of God. To take the love of God into the darkest areas of the world to see if it would prevail. I have seen this movie. I was left almost speechless afterwards. All I could say was "WOW, PRAISE GOD!"

If you are interested in seeing "Furious Love" the website has a list of locations where it's being shown. If you are in the Chattanooga area I can provide you with a venue here locally. To watch the preview click here.

Although the movie is about the powers of darkness, it's focus is not. The focus of "Furious Love" is the power of God to overcome the darkness.

Spiritual forces of evil are real (see Ephesians 6:10-20 and II Corinthians 10:3-6.) Keeping your head in the sand does nothing to advance the Kingdom of God here on earth. I have been clothed with the full armor of God and can love without fear and this is why my soul sings!