WHAT REAL LOVE IS!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

TUESDAY AUGUST 30, 2022.

SUBJECT : WHAT REAL LOVE IS!

Memory verse: "By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren." (First John 3 vs 16.)

READ: Song of Solomon 8 be 6 - 7:

8:6: Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm: for love is strong as death; jealousy is cruel as the grave: its flames are flames of fire, a most vehement flame.

8:7: Many waters cannot quench love, not can the floods drown it: if a man would give for love all the wealth of his house, it would be utterly despised.

INTIMATION:

Real love is as strong as death; it cannot be killed by time or disaster and cannot be bought for any price because it is freely given. Real love is priceless, and even the richest king cannot buy it. Love must be accepted as a gift from God and then shared within the guidelines God provides. Accept the love of your spouse as God’s gift, and strive to make your love a reflection of the perfect love that comes from God Himself. 

Our society confuses love with lust. Unlike lust, God’s kind of love (real live) is directed outward toward others, not inward toward ourselves. It is utterly unselfish. This kind of love goes against our natural inclinations. It is impossible to have this love unless God helps us set aside our own natural desires so that we can love and not expect anything in return. Thus, the more we become like Christ, the more love we will show to others. Love is the greatest of all human qualities and is an attribute of God Himself (First John 4 vs 8). Love involves unselfish service to others. Real love is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith, 

We must not define love after the definitions of the world. We must define love after the manner by which Jesus loved us. The extent to which He loved us is manifested in the action of His incarnation and death for our sins. Our love for one another, therefore, must be manifested in our interpersonal activity in one another’s lives. 

As I have previously stated, real love is in action, not a feeling. It produces selfless, sacrificial giving. The greatest act of love is giving oneself for others. We can lay down our lives for others by; by serving others with no thought of receiving anything in return. Sometimes it is easier to say we will die for others than to truly live for them. This is because it involves putting others’ desires first. Jesus taught the same principle of love in John 15 vs 13.

Jesus is an epitome of real love. His example of real love was demonstrated in His disciples. Jesus knew He would be betrayed by one of them, He knew one of them will deny Him, and that all of them will desert Him for a time. Still “He loved them to the end” (John 13 vs 1). God knows us completely, as Jesus knew His disciples (John 2 vs 24 - 25; 6 vs 64). He knows the sins we have committed and the ones we will yet commit. Still, He loves us. 

How do you respond to that kind of love? We respond by loving others with the intensity of love that Jesus showered on us. It is a love that has no conditions. It is self-sacrificing love that extends beyond any conditions of one’s environment, and thus, simply acts out a selfless attitude of appreciation for all that God has done in one’s life in reference to salvation. Therefore, such love is a show of appreciation of what God did for us on the cross through His Son Jesus Christ.

Our love of perfection causes us to be irritated or angered by some negative attitudes of others. This may cause some negative reactions from us. This does not mean we don’t love them, but because of our quest for perfection. Even sometimes we are irritated or angered by others, and we don’t know why. Not all irritability stems from sinful or selfish motives, although the irritable treatment of others surely is wrong. Much irritability comes from a love of perfection, a deep desire that programs, meetings, and structures be run perfectly. 

A desire to run things perfectly can erupt into anger at events or people who get in the way or ruin that desire. Jesus was in like manner irritated and angered when He went to the temple and saw the activities of money changers in the temple. The Bible recorded that He “drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves.” 

Though Jesus was irritated by their actions hence His actions against them. However, Jesus’ action didn’t not take His love for them away, He still died on the cross for their sins. Those who are easily irritated need to remember that perfection exists only with God. We need to love Him and our fellow Christians, not the visions we have for perfection here on earth. 

Prayer: Abba Father, My desire is to be a living example to others of Your unparalleled love for humanity. Endue me with the same Spirit of love, and give me the grace to practice love for others as much as You loves me, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!