In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, if God so loved us, then we also ought to love one another. No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God resides in us, and his love is perfected in us. 1 John 4:10-12
New English Translation
What is love? How do you know you love someone or that you are loved by them? Well, in the verses above, it’s clear that love is an action, not a feeling. It says nowhere that God had warm fuzzies toward us or that we made Him feel something within Him. It says that God loves us and sent His Son as a sacrifice for us. Action.
I’m pretty tired of people embracing a distorted sense of love. They think that just because they had butterflies in their tummy and can manage to spend 24 hours with someone that they’ve fallen in love. Hate to break it to ya, but I get butterflies before a big test or an audition… and I’ve managed to spend a lot of time on and with both those. Obviously, that is not what love is.
If love from God is action, then clearly for us to love is an action. Love has never been and will never be about finding the perfect partner to woo into bed. Love will always be about making sacrifices for others, whether they are your future husband or wife or merely someone you bumped into. Love has absolutely nothing to do with marriage. You don’t love someone because you married them. You loved them well before that time arrived. Also, loving someone is not restricted to “romance” or those close to you. You can love a complete stranger.
That leaves us asking ourselves, “How do we love others as God has loved us?” In short, He made a huge sacrifice for us so we should be willing to make sacrifices for others. This sacrifice could be time, money, or something else. However, it’s only a true act of love if the sacrifice is made willingly. You cannot be forced to love anyone.
You may be thinking, “well, Bob doesn’t deserve to be loved.” Ok, neither do you. Neither do I. No one deserves anything. We all mess up. We all make mistakes. We’re all jerks now and then. But love has nothing to do with giving people what they deserve. It has everything to do with giving people what they don’t deserve. God displayed this perfectly when He gave His Son as a sacrifice. We didn’t deserve to gain freedom and salvation through this sacrifice. We could never do anything to deserve that. Yet, He granted it to us anyways.
Btw, if you’re going to limit love to those who deserve it, you can’t accept God’s love rightfully.
So, how are you going to love today? Maybe you could pay for someone’s meal or groceries. Maybe you could compliment a stranger. You could wash the dishes for your mom, spouse, or grandparent. It doesn’t have to be something that takes months of planning and saving. Loving someone starts with the little things. Who are you going to love?
