God’s Love

For the past several weeks I have been neglecting my reading of the Bible as well as my on line ministry.  I do not know why other than I feel like I am in a slow fade.  However, God has been talking to me, even though I may not be communicating with Him.  He has laid on my heart several things as of late and I feel the need to share some of that.

1 John 4:7
[God’s Love and Ours] Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.

God’s Love – I have been thinking about this for several weeks now and have determined that God’s love is the same as a grandparent’s.   

The dictionary defines love as "an intense affection for another person based on familial or personal ties". We love other people, or we say we love other people, when we are attracted to them and when they make us feel good. Notice that a key phrase in the dictionary definition of love is the phrase "based on". This phrase implies that we love conditionally; in other words, we love someone because they fulfill a condition that we require before we can love them. How many times have you heard or said, "I love you because you are cute;" or "I love you because you take good care of me;" or "I love you because you are fun to be with"? We base love on feelings and emotions that can change from one moment to the next. Problems begin with a small disagreement, then next thing you know a full out war escalates. (Literally and figuratively)

As a parent and a grandparent I understand God’s unconditional love for us even more than I did before. I love all my children and grandchildren the same.  I hate to see them bicker and fight.  It tears at my soul. I can hardly imagine what God thinks when we fight amongst ourselves.

Just the other day my grandson was in disagreement with me and began whining, crying, and would not do as he was asked. But I love him as he is and could not let anything like this get in the way of my love. This is when I began to understand how God loves me.  I believe that we were all created by Him and we are all one big family.

Would you place yourself in harm’s way to save one of your children or grandchildren? Well God did just that. He sent His only Son to this earth to show us how to love and also to be put into harm’s way in order for us to get to know God better. Now that’s a love that I do not know what to do with. If you said no, then I say you do not know God and you are selfish.

If we approach our everyday lives looking at love the way God does, the world would be a much better place. I think Tenth Avenue North’s song titled Times best describes God’s love for us.

This is how God explains His love:

"My love is over. It's underneath.
It's inside. It's in between.
The times you doubt Me, when you can't feel.
The times that you question, 'Is this for real?'
The times you're broken.
The times that you mend.
The times that you hate Me, and the times that you bend.
Well, My love is over, it's underneath.
It's inside, it's in between.
These times you're healing, and when your heart breaks.
The times that you feel like you're falling from grace.
The times you're hurting.
The times that you heal.
The times you go hungry, and are tempted to steal.
The times of confusion, in chaos and pain.
I'm there in your sorrow, under the weight of your shame.
I'm there through your heartache.
I'm there in the storm.
My love I will keep you, by My pow'r alone.
I don't care where you fall, where you have been.
I'll never forsake you, My love never ends.
It never ends."

1 John 3:16-17
This is how we've come to understand and experience love: Christ sacrificed his life for us. This is why we ought to live sacrificially for our fellow believers, and not just be out for ourselves. If you see some brother or sister in need and have the means to do something about it but turn a cold shoulder and do nothing, what happens to God's love? It disappears. And you made it disappear.