Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 1 John 4:7-8 (ESV)
It seems like it should be the last thing we should need to be reminded of, and even less that we should have to be commanded to love. But the reality is we do need to be reminded and commanded to love. God certainly thinks so and in his written word (the Bible) he reminds us to love:
God
Jesus Christ
Our Neighbor
Each Other
Our spouses
Our children
The Alien
The Poor
Sinners
Our Enemies
And …
God does not suggest to us to love all of the above, he commands us to, which tells us he does not consider it optional. We like for love to be optional, for us to feel it, and when we don’t we give ourselves a free pass. God, however, wants us to think of love as optimal, regardless of how we feel, and he knows more about love than anyone of us.God’s commands expect radical commitment, total participation, full obedience. They don’t come with a lot of legal fine print, but they do come with an expectation of us living by them because we trust God, because we are sure that in his love, goodness, and holiness he will only command us what is best for us. When God commands us to love he is leading by example, he is not asking us to do anything he has not done so himself. He has practiced:
Faithful love
Persevering love
Sacrificial love
Forgiving love
Patient love
Humble love
Risk-taking love
Extreme love
Honest love
Tender love
Promise- keeping love
Giving-your-all love
Selfless love
Merciful love
Unfathomable love
And …
Too many of us have experienced the absence of love, the opposite of love, twistedness masquerading as love, conditional love. Too many of us practice manipulative love, fearful love, even sick love. So, not trusting others and ourselves we are cautious, mistrusting, fearful with love. This why we need to be both reminded and be commanded to love on an entirely different level than our experience and fears compel us to and cause us to settle for.
I wish I could tell you that I no longer need to be reminded to love like God wants me to, commands me to, and has shown me himself through Christ. I wish I could hang up a Ph.D. diploma earned from DUL.edu (Divine University of Love), but all too often I find myself still in the Grammar School of Love. I am not saying this as an excuse, but because I still need to and want to learn.
I know God is right in all his reminders and commands for me to live a life of love. God doesn’t just remind and command, he provides and enables as well, especially regarding his commands to love. He provides opportunities to love and grow in love. He gives ability and strength to love when we can’t fathom how to or have plum run out of love. He allows us to tap his endless reservoir of love. He blesses and uses every effort we make to keep his commandments to love. There is one thing God will not do when it comes to love, he won’t make us - we have to choose, decide to, pursue, and want to live a life of love.
To God be all Glory. Love you, Pastor Hans
P.S. A good place to start keeping God’s commands to love is with the people currently in your life, the people God brings across your path today.