Fourteen Days of Love – Day 4 – I Can Love You Like That

“"We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, 'I love God,' and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother."”  – 1 John 4:19-21

 

Who taught you how to love?  Is this something that you had to learn from watching Sesame Street or The Electric Company, or is it something you learned in Elementary school?  At what point in your life did you discover that you could love another?  I’m not talking about that tingling in your toes when the cute girl (or boy) from across the room smiled at you, I’m talking about truly loving someone, faults and all.  I look at the little children in pre-school and even the toddlers at the Day-care and ask myself – do they have the capacity to love the other children they are playing with in the same way that God loves them?  Is love inherent or is it learned?  The golden rule is, “Treat others as you would have them treat you.”  can also be stated, “Love your neighbor as yourself” (John 15:12),  and these make complete logical sense.  But, the question still remains: “How?”

Jesus Christ came to this earth fully God and yet fully man.  Born to take away the sins of the world, and usher us into eternity with God the Father.  Yet, at the same time, to live amongst us and struggle with life’s challenges just like us.  He was thirsty, he was hungry, he bled when his skin was cut, the sun caused sweat to form upon his brow and at night he slept.  He learned from Joseph to be a carpenter, and he learned from Mary to play nicely with the other children.  His knowledge of the scriptures did not come from man but from God Almighty and in this knowledge was the depth of understanding God’s love for the world.  He spent his later years sharing this love with everyone he came in contact with.  Those that hated him, those the adored him – it mattered not.  The love he would share was not a love between mankind, but a greater love that had no boundaries.  The example set forth for us to love one another as God has loved us, is impossible.  You cannot love one another in the same manner as God does, because His love is immutable – unchanging.

Is this love inherent?  I don’t think so.  I personally believe we learn to love others by first realizing how much God loves us.  As the scripture states, it is easy to love those who you can see, speak to and engage with; how much more difficult is it to love God who you cannot see.  Understanding that God’s love is unchanging is difficult to grasp, because our love for one another is constantly changing.  I know we say, “I Love You.” to our family and friends, but is it 100% authentic and true every time the words come out of your mouth or is it by habit.  Can you say without question that you love your fellow man (your brother or sister) with an immutable love, never changing?  It is likely that when something goes wrong between you and another, your feelings for that person will change based upon the severity of the event.

When we say “I Love the Lord” we are using our limited knowledge of the word love to represent the emotion similar to love we have for one another.  In doing so, we are stating a feeling at a given point in time.  Can you say, “I Love the Lord” when you child dies, when you have lost your job or when your spouse has left you for another?  Can you love the Lord with the same passion and desire the day after your home is foreclosed, or a natural disaster destroys everything you have?  Let’s face it, loving God with the same unchangeable characteristic as He loves you is impossible.  So when the word says we are a liar to claim that we love God, it is a very high standard we are being held to.  It is the standard taught by God Himself through His son Jesus Christ.  This is where we learn to love.  It’s not on TV, the big screen, the romance novels or the trashy magazines.  Love comes from within and is drawn out by the Holy Spirit who dwells within us.  God is going to love you regardless of your reciprocation.  God is love.

Prayer:
Loving Father,
Thank you for loving us.  Thank you for showing us through Your son what true love is.  Help us to live with this love in our day to day encounters with others.  Help us to realize that we must be able to share You with others and in doing so truly demonstrate the ever present, unchanging love that you have demonstrated for us.  In Your name we pray – Amen



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