Simple Faith Christian

John 3:16 (NKJV)

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

          Have you ever cared so much about someone that you told them that you loved them? Maybe it was just said in response to someone saying they loved you? How about stepping back to take a serious look at how you show your love to those around you?

          For some of us, our lives can be filled with using the word love in so many situations. Even the over use of the heart button on social media or emoji in text messages. We have gotten to the point where the true meaning of the word love may have lost it’s true meaning for us.

          If you dig down deep, you may begin to uncover many questions about your true feelings for certain people. Take a moment to define love in your own words. Don’t continue reading until you at least have a definition in your mind. Now here is the Webster’s version.

“Love” – an intense feeling of deep affection or a great interest and pleasure in something. A deep affection, a great pleasure. Now go back and replay all those times you freely used the word love or the symbol for it. Do all those situations fit into the definition? Speaking for myself I would have to say no they do not.

How we remedy our view of who and how we love is totally up to us. We can just continue going through life and blankly clicking the love button or take the time to really explore what love is and how we emulate it.

Looking back at the definition, many of us can probably relate better to the second half than the first because we have a great interest or take pleasure in something. You may love a certain sport, type of event, or activity that you can’t get enough of. But loving a thing can take away from all the other relationships in your life.

This is why the first part of the definition is the more important part, but there are probably few relationships in our lives that we can honestly say bring feelings of deep affection. The feeling that you can’t do without that person and would do anything for them. A love without conditions where it is extended to us in all circumstances no matter what they have done.

Many of us will also look for this love from another person, but this is where we can put our faith too much in people or at least a single person. The truth is that the only place we can find this type of love is in God and it is called Agape love: the fatherly love of God for humans, as well as the human reciprocal love for God.

Agape love is very difficult from a human standpoint to describe, let alone demonstrate. This can bring about an emotional rollercoaster because no matter how hard we try we end up in that valley when we can no longer feel the connection. Not because it has been removed, but we begin to convince ourselves that we don’t deserve it.

Besides the beginning of the opening scripture, we can find many references to God’s unending love throughout His word. The love shown in second chances, in protection, in rescuing, in healing, and ultimately in our forgiveness and salvation. Of the four kinds of love we find, we look more toward the romantic, the bond of a friend, or empathy we show another, rather than the unconditional, no strings attached, never ending love we yearn for.

There is only one place we can find this. With the Father and Son through the Spirit. Lamentations verifies this truth further in 3:22 (NLT), “The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease.” A love that never ends and mercies that never cease. In this we should have no doubt, but we can easily forget because we do not fully open our hearts to return this love that we are given freely.

          Instead, we let the shadows in our lives convince us that we don’t deserve it. 1 John 4:9 shows us a better perspective, “In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.” God did not have to send Jesus into this world, but He did. His love was so great that He wanted us to see firsthand how we could stop being selfish and love.

          Jesus demonstrated to all those who witnessed what the unconditional love from God looks like. Not just how he treated others, but how He honored the Father in all that He did. This was even after thousands of years of spotty recognition by a handful of people who still had their moments of doubt. This is why we may feel that if these warriors could not remain faithful, how can we?

          We must remember that God is timeless and waits on us with open hands as further outlined in Isaiah 54:10, “For the mountains may move and the hills disappear, but even then my faithful love for you will remain. My covenant of blessing will never be broken,” says the Lord, who has mercy on you.” A love that will always remain.

          So, join me in removing all the doubts and any other roadblocks that prevent us from feeling and tapping into God’s unconditional love for us. Let us honor this blessing by returning that love to Him with no limits or conditions. We need to just open our hearts and surrender every area of our life to Him allowing His love to flow through us into a world that needs it.  

OPEN YOUR HEART AND FEEL MY LOVE

There is a darkness in the world that seems to be ever present,
Always casting a shadow and making good things unpleasant.

From Joy that is being stolen to hope that is easily crushed,
It feels like everything starts slipping and dreams are being flushed.

We can enter a state of disillusion with nothing to look forward to,
Seeing no worth in ourselves and good prospects as being few.

There is no way to really describe how we are feeling detached,
Lord, how do we cover so many holes that really need to be patched?

Child, you continue to look for earthly solutions that do not come from above,
When truly the only thing you are missing is the feeling of God’s love.

You have become so disconnected that you are trying to find your way back,
Now you do not realize that it’s the guidance in my word you lack.

Though disobedience separated us I did not turn my back on you,
I still remained ever faithful until I made a way back through.

With the loving hand I’ve corrected well extending forgiveness and grace,
Just open your heart and feel my love and there will be nothing you can’t face.

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