March 2009 Meditation: Meaning of Love II
For
the first two weeks of February many people’s focus is on LOVE because
of Valentine’s Day. Love is associated with hearts and candy, going on
a date with that special someone, being disappointed if you don’t have
a special someone and is basically associated with emotions.
In spite of the fact that Valentine’s Day has past, learning to love is something we should pursue all of our lives.
1
Corinthians 14:1 instructs us to “Pursue love”. How do we pursue love?
Is it pursuing a feeling? The answer to that is “NO”. Love is a choice,
but more than that, LOVE is who God is. 1 John 4:8 reveals this to us.
It tells us “God is Love”. When we pursue God, we are pursuing love. As
we grow in our relationship with Him, we will grow in our capacity and
ability to love. Our love for God is clearly revealed in our love for
others, but as we learned last month, our love for God is displayed in
our obedience to Him and to His Word.
Have
you ever been at the place in your life when you did not feel like you
had the capacity to love a person or that you did not love someone any
more?
If you are a believer, this is impossible
because God lives in you and He is LOVE. It is very important for us to
continue to grow in the revelation that LOVE abides in us. It is a
powerful thought. Because LOVE abides in us, we can be obedient to God
and His Word. Because LOVE abides in us, we can love ourselves. Because
LOVE abides in us, we can love others. We are able to love because He first loved us.
1 John 4:9-11
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. In
this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His
Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us,
we also ought to love one another.
God’s love has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. This
means God’s love has been transferred into us, emptied into us and it
flows down into us in large quantities! His love fills us to
overflowing by the Holy Spirit.
John 7:38-39
He
that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly
shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit,
which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was
not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)
This
description from John 7 paints a great picture for us. Most of us have
seen, either on television, in a movie or in person, a flowing river.
It moves around the terrain until it meets a bigger body of water that
it flows into. As it moves, it smooths out rocks and carries boats,
fish, tree parts, etc. with it. When God’s love is poured into our
lives, it smooths out our rough edges and carries us with it. Just like
a river can overflow its banks or form tributaries, as God’s love is
poured into us, we overflow onto others and form new branches affecting
others.
Everywhere we go people should experience God’s love because of the overflow from our lives.
It
comes out of our relationship with the Lord as we act on His Word.
Remember, true love is displayed in obedience. Jesus said if we love
Him we would keep His commandments. As we do God’s Word, we demonstrate His LOVE.
Because
of being human, sometimes we might feel that God does not love us or
that He would not want to love us. This is a lie we have to cast down. Romans
8:38-39 clearly states that nothing can separate us from God’s love.
His love is always there for us, which means we are always able to love
the way He loves. We have the ability to do His Word. Our capacity to
love is not dependent on us. We have God’s power to love. Keep in mind
that it is, “no longer I who lives, but Christ in me and the life I now
live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and
gave Himself for me” (Gal.2:20).
As we meditate and understand
this, God’s love will flow from our lives and it will be evident that
we are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. People will see God’s love
through our stand and our actions…..and others will want what we have.
Ways To Demonstrate God's Love:
* Visit an elderly person.
*
Help an elderly person or someone who is unable to get out by
themselves by going grocery shopping or doing things around the house
for them.
* At school help another student with their books or a class they are having difficulty with.
* Sit with someone at lunch who is sitting alone.
* Help someone with a lot of groceries to their car.
* Visit the local children’s hospital.
* Mow the lawn, rake the grass or shovel the snow for someone.
* Make some cookies or a cake and bring it to a neighbor or to work.
* Send a card to someone, young or old. It’s always nice to get encouraging mail.
* Talk to someone at church or at work that you never talk to.
* Bring flowers to a local shop you go to.
* Offer to wash someone’s house windows.
* Wash someone’s car.
* Offer to do ironing for someone.
* Take a single mom’s children for the night.
* Make a meal for someone.
* Ask your neighbors or fellow employees if there is something you can pray about for them.
* SMILE big wherever you are.
* Take out an elderly person who lives alone.
* Make a special meal for your family. Bring out the good dishes. Set the table real fancy.
* Put all of your family members’ names in a bowl. Everyone has to pull a name out and do something special for that person.
The list is endless….I hope this gives you some ideas.
I Am Able To Love Because God's Love
Has Been Poured Into My Heart By
The Holy Spirit.
(Romans 5:5)