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01
Love (1 John 4: 7-12)
February 1, 2013

Love. The world sings about it. Poets write about it. Talk shows talk about it. Somehow it eludes us. Just what is it? John says it is the defining mark of a Christian believer. Without it, you ain't got God (rough Greek translation).

John is really saying the same thing that Paul did: Love is a fruit of the Spirit of God (Galatians 5:22). It is evident if you have God in your life. Love will be manifest. But this Biblical love is probably something quite different than what the world suggests in the average sit com. In the Bible, love is not a feeling. Love is not an emotion. Love is not a hormonal response. So what is it?

There is a popular saying in Christian circles that "Love is a decision". True. But I am always the smart guy in the back of the class who asks, "But what is the decision?" There may be a lot of views on that, but I believe in simplest terms Biblical love is the decision to value a person in the same way that God does.

The Bible calls us to choose to love God, others, and ourselves. We are to value people the way God does. God valued every single soul to the extent that He gave His only Son for that single soul. No matter how sinful. No matter how lost. Jesus died for that person, not based on their merit, but simply because God so loved.

This act of choosing to value a human being is Biblical love. It has nothing at all to do with the relative worth of the person and has everything to do with the nature and character of God. It has nothing to do with how deserving that person is and everything to do with God. Why, then, love? We love and value that person because God first loved us. His love causes us to be born of God and become capable of His love.

Is it that easy? No, If I am depending upon my own love it's impossible. My own love is limited to what I think people deserve. John says God lives in us and His love is made complete in us. If I am trusting God to love and value that person through me He will do it.

God has already made His definitive value judgment about that person in the atoning death of His Son. It‘s not a question of "God might love you if you‘re good". Rather, we are to proclaim the Good News: Centuries before you were even born God loved you enough to die for you. Amazing love. Amazing grace.

So how about it? You see that reflection in the mirror? Jesus died for that person. And guess what? Every person you meet today, every criminal you see on television, every clerk in every store, every driver on the road, every boss and every employee, every student and every teacher, JESUS DIED FOR THEM. Value them in the same way.

Submitted by: Vic Foster

Filed under: News, The Ferris Lane Community Connector

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