The Love of God

One of my favorite hymns (I have quite a few of them) is "The Love of God". We often sing hymns without thinking of what the song is saying. When we sing we should not be trying talk to anyone other than God Himself. So I think it is a wise thing to get to know the song in which you are singing. Realize what you are telling your Saviour. Read the following with that mindset:

The love of God is greater far than tongue or pen can ever tell. It goes beyond the highest star, and reaches to the lowest hell. The guilty pair, bowed down with care, God gave His Son to win. His erring child He reconciled, and pardoned from his sin. O love of God, how rich and pure! How measureless and strong! It shall forevermore endure the saints’ and angels’ song.

Now that is good stuff! The God that we serve has many, many wonderful characteristics. Love is one that your modern "Emerging-Church" Christian focuses a bit too much on, and then on the other hand, your "Fundamentalist, Bible-Believing, Baptist" focuses too little on.

1 John 4:5-11
"They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them. We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error. Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son [to be] the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another."

God is not 10 percent, or 50 percent, or even 99 percent love. He is a full 100 percent! That's what is so great about God, He has the ability to be a complete 100 percent of all of His qualities. It is truly mind-boggling. Our tiny human minds cannot comprehend a being that can be 100 percent one thing and 100 percent another. It doesn't make sense to us. But just like most everything else, we must simply have faith that what God says is true. If He says that He is 100 percent love, and yet 100 percent a God of wrath than I'm just going to have to believe Him. If I can trust Him for my salvation, I hope I can trust Him in everything else.

So being that God is what He says He is, a God of complete love, we ought to try to match that love. Now this is a task that at face value seems impossible to complete, and I would agree that it is. But, get this, it is simply miraculous: We as Christians have GOD living inside of us. Wow. Isn't that neat. To think, that when I got saved, God in Spirit form came to dwell inside of me. Wow. And that means that I, through the Holy Spirit of God, can be 100 percent love. Wow.

You see, the reason in which you are different than the world is that you have God living inside of you. You are a temple for your King. And if He truly is in there, then you should have His attributes. When a person is possessed by an unfamiliar spirit, they become a completely different person. They do crazy things that they would have never thought of doing before. The unclean spirit works through them to accomplish his task. The very same way, when God abides in you and I, we should do things that are against our human nature. Loving others doesn't come natural to us. To love, as Jesus said in Luke 6, is to "love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again." An unsaved person doesn't do that. As Christians we need to love the way God loves. A lost person will see that as peculiar, and He might just be open to knowing why you are loving the way that you are.

So what does Godly love look like? Well think of this. You, I, and the whole world, for that matter, was lost in sin. To God we were a bunch of disgusting slugs. He had created us and given us commandments in which to follow, but we chose to disobey them and rebel against Him. But, Romans 5:8 says: God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. The love of God was shown when He sent His Son to die for the sins of a dirty world. That is genuine love. Giving yourself up to someone else with no thought of receiving anything in return.

Use the brain that God has given to you, and think of ways that you can be more loving, and therefore, more Godly. It really isn't hard. I don't think I need to give you examples. You can do it yourself.

I promise you this: If you strive to be more loving to your wife, your children, your siblings, your boss, your everyone. Not only will God bless you for that with crowns of glory in Heaven, but your relationships with others will flourish as well. Maybe there is a lost soul that you are praying for. You've tried to witness to him or her before, but they just aren't seeming to respond to the Gospel they way you would like. How 'bout you try love. Just try it. If it doesn't work, I'll give you your money back, you'll never have to listen to me again. Try love. Show them the love of Christ in you, and maybe they can better understand the love of God. Who knows? Give it a try. Love like God loved us.