God loves you. Personally. Powerfully. Passionately.
Others have promised and failed.
But God has promised and succeeded.
He loves you with an unfailing love.
And His love – if you will let it – can fill you
And leave you with a love worth giving.
Many people tell us to love. Only God gives us the power to do so.
We know what God wants us to do. 23 And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment. (1 John 3:23) But how can we? How can we be kind to the vow breakers? To those who are unkind to us? How can we be patient with people who have the warmth of a vulture and the tenderness of a porcupine? How can we forgive the moneygrubbers and backstabbers we meet, love, and marry? How can we love as God loves? We want to. We long to. But how can we?
By living loved. By following the 7:47 Principle: Receive first, love second. More than one person has hailed 1 Corinthians 13 as the finest chapter in the bible. No words get to the heart of loving people like these verses. And no verses get to the heart of the chapter like verses 4 through 8.
4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.
I suddenly have this thought of replacing the word love in this passage with my name. I will become a liar. “Paul is patient, Paul is kind. Paul does not envy, he does not boast, he is not proud….” That’s enough!! Stop right there! Those words are false. Paul is not patient. Paul is not kind. Ask my mom. Paul can be an out-and-out clod!
It set a standard I could not meet. No one can meet it. No one, that is, except Christ. Does this passage not describe the measureless love of God? Let’s inset Christ’s name in the place of the word love, and see if it rings true.
4 Jesus is patient, Jesus is kind. Jesus does not envy, he does not boast, he is not proud. 5Jesus is not rude, he is not self-seeking, he is not easily angered, he keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Jesus does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 Jesus always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8 Jesus never fails.
Rather then let this scripture remind us of a love we cannot produce, let it remind us of a love we cannot resist – God’s love.
Some of you are so thirsty for this type of love. Those who should have loved you didn’t. Those who could have loved you didn’t. You were left at the hospital. Left at the alter. Left with an empty bed. Left with a broken heart. Left with your question “Does anybody love me?”
Please listen to heaven’s answer at the start of this post.
God loves you. Personally. Powerfully. Passionately.
Others have promised and failed.
But God has promised and succeeded.
He loves you with an unfailing love.
And His love – if you will let it – can fill you
And leave you with a love worth giving.
