God has been reminding me a lot lately that this love thing is all about Him. I think I mentioned that before but I now see it everywhere. Look at the verses from two posts ago. The focus is always on God. Not on us. And not even on the recipients of our loving actions here on earth, like our families and friends. This also is what makes this love different. The world is obsessed with love but always seems to miss the mark of real and true love. I believe this is the difference. God is love. True love can only come from Him and must be about Him alone.
Jesus says in John 3:19b, "... men loved the darkness rather than the light, for their deeds were evil." Our actions tell us where our love lies; they tell us what we love the most. A person who loves God will act in a way that reflects that love. Those actions are love being shown to others through our kindness, patience, and other elements of love found in I Corinthians 13. The purpose of our loving actions is not just to be loving, but to glorify God, whom we love. He is both the source of our love and the ultimate object of our love.
We cannot hope to love others without first knowing and loving God. Once we know and love God, our purpose is naturally to glorify Him. We glorify Him by loving others and He gives us the love and strength to do just that.
Do you all agree? Does this make sense to you? What does it mean for us and the practical steps we should be taking in our daily lives to be more loving? I want to hear what you think!
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Kristen, I love the reminder that "this love thing is really all about God"--and not even about the recipients that gets the 'goods'. I never looked at in this way. What a powerful and awesome God we serve. In loving Him, we get the strength to love others. And in loving others, He is glorified.
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