I learned a very valuable lesson just recently. The importance and the understanding of love and what it means to love others. A few days before my grandmother died, I woke up very early in the morning. The sun was just coming up over the horizon and everyone in my house was still fast asleep. I was confused for a minute as in to why I was up so early. I have real bad insomnia so I tend to sleep in more often than not, so waking up at the time that I did was a bit odd. As I sat up in the bed, I heard a gentle whisper speak softly to me,
"God's love is your foundation."
Confused I reiterated, "Wait, what? No, Jesus is our foundation."
"John 3:16" the voice spoke back.
As I said the verse out loud under my breathe, it hit me. It was a revelation from the Holy Spirit.
"GOD'S LOVE IS OUR FOUNDATION! BECAUSE JESUS IS GOD'S LOVE!"
I yelled so loud I woke my husband up. He was confused as to what was going on and I was trying the best I could to explain to him what had just happened. I felt such joy in my heart the entire day after that. The presence of the Holy Spirit was so strong inside of me and all around me and all I felt from the inside out was pure joy that permeating into the next day. Every phone call I received was full of so much love and laughter. All day long and into the next day I played worship songs that sang sweet loving melodies of our Lord Jesus Christ. The presence of the Holy Spirit was a wonderful delight and I couldn't help but to relish in it.
My grandmother passed away the day after and that joy turned into mourning. But what has transpired in these following weeks have completely changed my perspective on my faith and what it truly means to love. That revelation has weighed so heavily on my heart every single day even now as I sit here and type this post. For a while I found myself trying to understand what it meant to love others. Growing up my sense and understanding of what love was, was very warped and distorted. I never learned how to love properly, so I was struggling to understand what it meant to do so.
A week or so had gone by, and I decided to go to my Bible to get to the bottom of this love thing. I ended up coming across 1 John 4:7-21, which says,
"Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love. God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us. And God has given us his Spirit as proof that we live in him and he in us. Furthermore, we have seen with our own eyes and now testify that the Father send his Son to be the Savior of the world. All who declare that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God. We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgement, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world. Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love. We love each other because he loved us first. If someone says, "I love God," but hates a fellow believer, that person is a liar; for if we don't love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see? And he has given us this command: Those who love God must also love their fellow believers."
I felt like God was teaching me the importance of loving others, including my brothers and sisters in Christ. It also reminded me of what love really was. We don't simply just love with words, but by our actions. Jesus showed how much He loved with everything He said and did. He healed the blind, He healed the sick, He cried with Lazarus family and He washed the feet of the one He knew would betray Him Judas. I realized something so profound about the story of Judas, the disciples never knew who Jesus was talking about when He spoke of someone going to betray Him. Jesus loved Judas that much that the disciples couldn't even tell he was the one Jesus was speaking of! That is the type of love God wants us to give to others; sacrificial. unfailing, merciful, love. An unconditional, selfless, love. The same love Jesus loves us with, every second, every minute and every hour of everyday. Jesus gave us a great example of how to love others, His greatest example was when He died on the cross for all of ours sins. He didn't have to, the nails weren't holding Him there, His love was. His love for a broken and fallen world riddled with sin kept Him there. I am starting to understand how important loving others is, not just believers, but also those who are lost as well. The importance of meeting people where their at, sitting down with them, listening to them and empathizing with them. Showing them my scars and imperfections, while also sharing the only hope that any of us ever have with them, Jesus.
1 Corinthians 13:13 says, "Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love." The greatest of things that will last forever is love. And if we go back to 1 John 4:16 it says, "We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them." God is love, and He is also eternal. Love will last forever, and all who live in love, live in God and He in them. It's impossible to love outside of God. The love this world believes it has is superficial and selfish. It isn't true, or honorable, or right. But God's love is, and we who have God have His love so we are without excuse as to why we can't love others with that same love. Jesus tells us to pray for our enemies, do good to those who hurt us. And as hard as that may seem for some of us sometimes, if we are in Christ Jesus, it's not impossible. I am grateful for this experience and wisdom I have received from the Holy Spirit, and I pray it blesses someone in some way. I would like to challenge you today to show that love with someone. Whether it be an encouraging text, a kind gesture, or helping someone in need. Love them with the love of Jesus. Allow them to see His light and love in you today and thank Him for the opportunity to do so. Who knows, maybe God will use that small gesture, or encouraging text to open up a door for them to receive Christ into their hearts and they become a child of God. Whatever you chose to do today, do it with your only motive being love. I pray God blesses you always.
Blessings,
-Chelsey
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