I found myself reflecting back on a time that I strongly felt God lay on my heart that he wants me to fall in love with him again. Whether we admit it or not, the one thing that we all long for is to love and/or to be loved and I absolutely love “love” but this reminder was not that I was lacking love but that I had lost insight into his love. God’s love is indescribable, incomparable, immeasurable. It would take a lifestyle to discover it, but that is the power of it; it is everlasting and it endures. I don’t believe that by falling in love with God means I will reach a definitive point, but rather, I will learn to abide in his AGAPE love which is unconditional, life-giving and sacrificial. To fall in love with God again is to fall into his arms and live with him, after all…
7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.
1 John 4: 7-12 ESV
Whilst I also believe that God reveals his love to us in incredible and creative ways, both through examples in his word and through personal encounters and experiences, I thought to share with you my insights into his AGAPE love
Affirmation
God’s unconditional love for us asserts, confirms and declares that we are his and that nothing can separate us from his love. We place confidence in that his love for us does not depend on how we are feeling about ourselves, particularly when we have done him wrong. Moreover, that God’s opinion of us does not change no matter our circumstances, shortfalls or flaws. God has loved us all and first from the beginning of time
The Lord appeared to him from far away. I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.
Jeremiah 31:3 ESV
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:16 NIV
We love because he first loved us.
1 John 4:19 NIV
This assurance grants us confidence in that, it is not through works of the flesh or self-righteousness that we receive his love but it is through faith in his son Jesus Christ and the gifts of grace and mercy. However, for this reason, it cultivates a reptant and humble heart as we acknowledge that the love that we have received is a free gift that we do not deserve and could never work for.
Gift
A gift is given willingly without the expectation of a repayment; it honours, acknowledges and appreciates the person out of choice not based on whether the person deserves it or has worked for it
But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:8 ESV
Receiving God’s love is not a green card to continue doing wrong but we learn from this scripture that he did not wait for us to be perfect without blemish without Christ or to prove that we deserved his love before we received it, we were still sinners, yet, he thought we were worth saving. This gift could never be earned, bought or paid for, the price was too high, yet Christ willingly sacrificed his life for us as a demonstration of his desire for us to gain eternal life through him.
Activation
Jesus practiced what he preached and demonstrated his love for many, for example, when he washed his disciples’ feet in John 13:1-17. Just like how the disciples were told to do this to others (see John 13:14), God’s type of love for us is activated through humbly serving God, meeting the needs of others and loving our neighbours through actions. We cannot give what we have not received but as we have received the love of God, it is not for us to keep to ourselves; one way to see the hand of God work through us is to put his love into action and help, support, encourage, pray for, listen to, comfort or just simply smile at someone. Romans 12:9-11, provides clear instructions on what love in action looks like:
It is sincere; serving should not be done out of duty or obligation otherwise this can lead to frustration, bitterness and hostility. The act of showing love should be genuine, honest and with an intention that is pure. We can do all that God has asked us to do through his grace and the strength that Christ grants
It hates what is evil; what is evil, not who. God does not hate the sinner but hates the sin and we ought to adopt the same attitude. Continue to extend mercy and patience but demonstrate love by gracefully dealing and addressing the evil, bad and sinful act that another may be walking in, not attacking them for who they are. Referring to Romans 14, it is important that we are not condemning our brothers and sisters whilst doing this as we will all stand before God’s judgement seat (Romans 14:10)
It holds onto what is good; it can be easy to put up a wall when we have been hurt, disappointed, let down or failed but we should always hold onto the good in a person. When I have found myself meditating on the act that someone has done, it disillusions me to think I have the right to remain mad at the person but 1 Peter 3:9 NIV clearly states “Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing”. One strategy I learned to overcome this is to draw a table and outline things that person X does well vs things that person X does not do well. The first should outweigh the latter, which indicates that there are more positive things to focus on about the person. If you are really struggling, cast your care onto God and ask him to renew your mind to perceive the person through his eyes and how he sees them
It thinks of others as higher than oneself; unconditional love has an outward focus. It is not selfish or self-seeking and requires one to deny the flesh and oneself and to seek to meet the needs of others.
It goes the extra mile; giving God your very best and going above and beyond “average” shows honour and desire to please him. Whilst God will not love us more or less than he already does, it is pleasing to him when we come to the house of the Lord with praise and it should be the best praise because he deserves it. He is a God of excellence and he deserves nothing less than this
Predestined
“he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will”
Ephesians 1:5 NIV
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”
Jeremiah 1:5 NIV
God’s love for us asserts that we were not an accident or a coincidence, no matter what we have been told or made to believe. He created us on purpose, with a purpose and for a purpose, therefore, nothing should cause us to doubt his love for us. It is a fact that we experience many life circumstances and struggles that may say otherwise, but what is true is God’s word that tells us of his desired, destined and determined will and love for us that will prevail
Edification
God’s love for us transforms us from the inside-out. True change does not begin on the outside, no matter how hard we try, but it begins on the inside where God is able to reach if we are willing let him in and cooperate with him through the Holy Spirit. The well-known story of Jesus talking to the Samaritan woman in John 4, is a brilliant depiction of what can happen when we meet Jesus and learn his love for us for whom he sees in us, not for what our outside appearance, mistakes or experiences tell us. Whilst this transformation is timeless, it can improve us and teach us how to live a life that is more pleasing to God.
I thank you for the time taken to read this blog post; the love of God is too great to explore it with a simplistic approach but I pray that you take the time to fall in love with God as it is a lifelong journey which he desires for us to embark on with him and through him.
God bless.
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