Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
—1
Corinthians 13:4 (NIV)
There are different kinds
of love. There is romantic love, love of friends, love of family, and then
there is a love that is above all others. It is self-sacrificing, pure, and
perfect. The unconditional love of God is the very best that can live in me. It
has the power to continually change me. It asks me to place the needs of others
before my own. It asks me to care without judgment, forgive without justice, and
give without hesitation. It asks me to have the love of the father who just yearned
for his wayward son to come home.
Everyone has a different idea
about what love is, and they draw their ideas from where they are in life. But
above all others is the love that was won by God’s grace on Calvary. His love supersedes
all others and has the power to impact all other kinds of love. His perfect love—living
in me—has the power to be patient, kind, and forgiving, and not jealous or
filled with pride. It has the power to draw others to Him. However, because I
am human, His love is not always perfect in me. It is often flawed by my own
desires. How easily I can forget that His love on Calvary was not only about
me! God, in His mercy, always draws me
back, welcoming me—filling me with His love instead of my own selfish one.
His love despises the evil
of jealousy, pride, and selfishness—especially when I refuse His love to change
my heart. But when it does change my heart, His love in me always protects,
always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres. My love will fail at some
point, but His love will always remain unchanging, filled with a forgiveness
that only He could purchase.
If His love does not
impact the love I have for others, then His love does not live in me. If it
does not change my selfish attitude and open my heart, then I have not given
Him access. Continually He draws me—continually He reaches—continually He
speaks to me of grace. If I surrender, He is a waterfall that has no end—a
stream of living water that quenches my thirst. He is the bread of life that
creates in me a love that is willing to give everything for the sake of that
one lost sheep.
© 2018 Lynn Lacher
www.lynnlacher.com/2018/09/his-love.html
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