Love Began With God
We can’t talk
about love for each other until we establish that love began with God. It was
He who first loved us, giving us the spirit of love. Remember one of the
definitions of love describe a oneness or a kinship. God is our Father. He
loves us. He loved us from the beginning and He has our best in mind. His plans
for us are better than any plans we can think of for ourselves. Sometimes we
feel like things just aren’t going our way and we’re saying, “God, where are
you?” He is right with us, working all things together for our good. Because He
can see the end from the beginning, and we can only see right now, it appears
that we’re abandoned. But we are not abandoned. He said He will never leave us
nor forsake us. It’s completely possible that we have to learn to trust Him and
we’ll never learn to trust Him until it appears that we’re losing the battle.
That’s when He will show Himself strong on our behalf. Because He can see the
end of the matter, He’ll work it out so that even though it seems hard right
now, He’s actually lining up the circumstances so that we’ll have an even
greater victory in the end.
One of my cousins told me that God allows us
to go through trouble so that we will become closer to Him. I’m not sure that I
agree with that, but I have found that because I need Him so much more now
after suffering some financial setbacks, I do find myself talking to Him so
much more and for depending on Him to make a way for me. So maybe my cousin has
a point.
Love is the first fruit named in the fruit of
the Spirit. Again, because love is the attribute that all the other fruit stem
from. We can’t have joy unless we have love. We can’t have peace unless we have
love. We certainly can’t have faith unless we have love. This is why the fact
that God loves us has to be firmly
established in our hearts. I can say, “oh yeah, I know that God loves me” a
thousand times a day in my head, but until it’s established on the inside of
me, it’s really just saying words. Until I get to the belief deep inside me
that God loves me and He is for me, I can’t even begin to have
faith. Sure, I know the verse from John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that
He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall have
everlasting life.” This verse is the proof of God’s love for humanity. I think
that yes, if I believe that God sent His Son to die for me and that believing
this I can get into heaven, but what about here and now? I need the assurance
that God loves me. He cares whether I get a better job. He will provide the
money to pay my bills. He will protect me and my family from harm. He will give
me the right words to say in a given situation. He will hear my prayers and
heal the sick relative or friend I have prayed for. I need to know and really
hold on to the belief that God loves me. He will by His power provide for me,
keep me well, keep me on the right path in life, and more importantly of all, He has really forgiven my sins and wiped
the slate clean on my behalf. Really? All those self-centered ways, all
those mean thoughts I’ve had about others? All the conniving underhanded things
I’ve done? How I have (and have done lately) told other people’s business? And
here’s the worst: I have watched the news or heard bad reports and ingested the
negativity and the fear going around in the world. In spite of all this and in
spite of what I’ve done and am sometimes still doing, God loves me and He is for me.
The writers of the
Old Testament referred to God’s love for us as “His merciful kindness” (Psalm
117:2). Mercy is described as compassionate forbearance shown toward an
offender, an enemy, or other person in one’s power. It can also be described as
forgiveness, benevolence, kindness, clemency, and pardon.
Psalm 103:8-10 says, “The LORD is merciful and
gracious, Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy. 9. He will not always strive
with us, Nor will He keep His anger forever. 10. He has not dealt with us
according to our sins, Nor punished us according to our sins.”
Joel 2:13 says, “…Return to the LORD your God,
For He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness; And He
relents from doing harm.”
At the end of
Jonah Chapter 3 (verse 10) God relented from the disaster that He had said He
would bring upon them (the people of Nineveh Nineveh
Jonah 4:2: “So he prayed to the LORD, and
said, “Ah LORD, was this not what I said when I was still in my country?
Therefore I fled previously to Tarshish; for I know that You are a gracious and
merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, One who relents
from doing harm.”
We, in the
present, also receive God’s mercy daily and if that weren’t enough, we also
receive God’s grace: the free and unearned favor of God that He gave us when He
sent His son to die on the cross to atone for our sins and the provision of His
daily blessings. Whereas the Old Testament writers only could describe God’s
love by His mercy, we can describe it by His mercy and His grace.
