Advent: Week Four: Love
God is love. It is essential to His character, maybe even the single most defining aspect of His character (though God has many other attributes as well). We, God’s perfect creation, were created in His image, in the image of love. Love, then, is also essential to our character. We are hardwired to love and to seek love. But, as so many things in this world, Satan has attempted to distort and manipulate what love truly is, and he’s done a pretty good job of it. Fortunately, the Bible tells us exactly what love looks like. The apostle John tells us this about love:
Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God.
Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.
Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us
and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
1 John 4:7-8,10
God’s presence is manifested through love. It is revealed to us in the way He sent His son, fully God and fully man, as a perfect and blameless sacrifice, bridging the gap between Him and us. We did nothing to cause this action of love; rather, God did so as an initiative towards humanity. In response to this tenderness God has offered us, we are to be vessels of love.
When we accept Christ as our Savior, we become a new creation, a new life, in Him. The evidence of our new life and fellowship with God is love. Our love for others then stems from our love for God. This one single attribute becomes the characterizing detail of our life. As we grow in intimacy with God, His love will become more apparent in our lives. For love is intrinsic to God’s character.
The example of love God gives us is intentional and selfless. Love, by Christ’s example, is not self-seeking or self-gratifying. Instead, it is driven by the desire to care for others, about putting their well-being above our own. Christ illustrates this love for us in His steady commitment to caring for others, in His tenderness and diligence. Christ’s love does not discriminate; it doesn’t show up on Sunday mornings and is forgotten the rest of the week. No, the love we are to emulate is consistent and constant.
Love is not merely an emotion or feeling; it is an action. We see the action of love in the way Jesus steps into the brokenness of this world. We see the action of love in the way Jesus pursues the sinner to give the gift of salvation. We see the action of love in the teachings and parables of Jesus. The action of love is written in the entirety of the Bible.
Love is the greatest commandment. Jesus tells us that the greatest commandment is to love God with the entirety of ourselves – everything we are, everything we have. The second commandment is similar. It says to “love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:31 NIV). Together, these two commandments fulfill the sum of all the other Laws. Love is the key to everything. It is the lens through which we should approach the world.
Jesus tells us to love our neighbor as ourselves. This means we are also commanded to love ourselves. Be kind to yourself, be gentle. Have patience and grace for yourself. Respect your body, your mind, and your soul, because remember, you are created in the image of the King, you are His daughter (or son), heir to the throne. Understand that you are valued, that you being here is intentional and purposeful. Walk in light of that purpose, walk in love.
