The Divine Origin of Love

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Scripture:

1John 4:7   Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.  8 Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love.  9 God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him.  10 In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.  11 Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another.  12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us.

Observation:

Love is not something that a human simply orchestrates in their own life, but it is of divine origin. The very nature of God is holy love and this is a gift provided for all of humanity. This love does not depend on what we do, but on who God is.  Jesus brings the very nature of God into the body of a human, providing a pathway for our participation with God. This act of Christ’s self-emptying is overwhelming and we recognize that the initiation of  love is always from God, not from humankind. Therefore, as we are filled with God’s love through participation in Christ, then that love is to flow from us to others. God lives in us and God’s love is brought to completion by reaching a lost world through us. God’s love proceeds from the heart of those who are being transformed into the likeness of the image of Christ. Pure and holy love, reflected in the lives of God’s adopted children who are bearing the family resemblance and therefore cannot help but reach out in love.

Application:

Not everyone we encounter in life will be lovable. Even good friends will, at times, frustrate and disappoint us. However, our reactions to these situations will be determined by our relationship to our holy God.  Also, our actions toward those who need our love will be defined by our relationship with God.

I find that I don’t cope as well with life when I am tired and I haven’t been spending the time with the Lord that I should. When I strike off on my own and try to make it through the day without having spent time with the Lord I will respond out of my own limited resources and not out of the deep well of God’s love.

Even ministering to others can become very tiring. Compassion fatigue is a very real thing which many face after giving of themselves to others for extended periods of time. Eventually, if we try to do this on our own we will simply become exhausted!

The divine origin of love is from God. We must remember that separating love from God is never really possible. We may try. The world around us may try. But anytime we do we trivialize what true love is and God’s divine act of mercy in Christ becomes lost.

Prayer:

Lord, please help me to live in and through you today so that your love may be revealed in me. Amen.

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