Category: Love of God

  • Love

    Love

    Love is about actively pursuing what is in another person’s best interests. This is the very essence of God’s character: “God so loved the world that he gave his only son”

    Love, a word we use so often, yet one that carries such diverse meanings. We love our families differently than we love chocolate or a sport. We speak of falling in love and falling out of love. It’s a word brimming with emotion, passion, and desire. C.S. Lewis explored this complexity in “The Four Loves,” highlighting how one English word encompasses four distinct Greek concepts of love.

    The ancient scriptures lay a powerful foundation for understanding divine love. In Deuteronomy 6:5, we find the core command: “And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength.” This forms part of the Shema, a prayer recited by Jews twice daily. The Hebrew word for love, AHAVAH (אַהֲבָה), reveals a profound truth: at its root, love is about giving. This echoes throughout the Old Testament, from loving your neighbor as yourself (Leviticus 19:18) to treating foreigners as native-born (Leviticus 19:33-34).

    Jesus, when asked about the most important commandment, affirmed this dual love: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:30-31). Dallas Willard defines love not as desire, but as “to will the good of others.” It’s about actively pursuing what is in another person’s best interests. This is the very essence of God’s character: “God so loved the world that he gave his only son” (John 3:16).

    The biblical portrait of love is rich and multifaceted: “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres” (1 Corinthians 13:4-7). This is the love revealed to Moses on Mount Sinai—a compassionate, gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, forgiving wickedness, rebellion, and sin. This is the God who loves us and calls us to love our neighbor.

    This dynamic of love creates a powerful ripple effect. Jesus said, “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:35). Loving our neighbor is the visible expression of our love for God. Imagine the impact when we, as God’s people, live out this love in our daily interactions. 

    Who is our neighbor? Everyone we encounter—at home, at work, in our communities. The apostles’ letters are filled with practical exhortations on how to live out this love with one another: “Be devoted to one another,” “Live in harmony,” “Show hospitality,” “Encourage one another,” “Bear one another’s burdens,” “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another.” Each of these is an act of giving, pouring out something for the benefit of another.

    To love well, we must be aware. We see this in Jesus’ interactions: His understanding of the Centurion’s faith, His tender response to Jairus’ desperate plea, and His persistent connection with the woman who touched His garment. In each instance, Jesus “read the situation” and responded with matter-of-factness, reassurance, or tenderness, as the moment required. This means looking beyond ourselves, being less self-absorbed, and truly seeing the joys, sorrows, hopes, and aspirations of those around us.

    Our culture often promotes self-absorption, but to love is to risk—to risk rejection, misunderstanding, and even being pushed away. Yet, when we give, we also receive. We also need to learn to receive love, breaking down the insecurities and hard shells that prevent us from allowing others in.

    This journey of love is messy. It’s where we encounter people who annoy, trigger, and unsettle us, just as we no doubt do to others. But it is precisely in this space that we learn to love freely, without agenda, acting in the best interests of another, regardless of their background or status. In Christ, our new identity transcends all earthly distinctions. We are called to live under a new dispensation, experiencing God’s transforming love and reflecting it to a broken world. We are His church, a light to the world, known by our love for one another.

    Dallas Willard encourages us to “pursue love,” and he also says we should not try to love that person but try to become the kind of person who would love them.” And, “I do not come to my enemy and then try to love them, I come to them as a loving person.”

    What is your next step in this journey of love? Perhaps, as David Whyte’s poem suggests, you need to “start close in, don’t take the second step or the third, start with the first thing close in, the step you don’t want to take.”

    Reflective Questions:

    1. Considering the definition of love as “willing the good of others,” how has your understanding of love shifted? What might it look like to practically “will the good” of someone in your life this week?
    2. Jesus’ was aware of the situations and people around Him. In what ways can you cultivate a greater awareness of others’ needs, joys, and struggles in your daily interactions?
    3. The Hebrew word for love, ahavah, means “to give.” What is one tangible act of giving—whether time, attention, resources, or forgiveness—that you can offer someone this week as an expression of love?
    4. The devotion mentions that to love is to risk. What fears or insecurities might be preventing you from extending love freely to others, and how can you invite God into those areas?
    5. Dallas Willard suggests becoming “the kind of person who would love.” What character qualities do you need to cultivate in yourself to become more inherently loving, and how can you intentionally pursue those qualities?

    Closing Prayer:

    Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your immeasurable love—a love that is patient, kind, and always perseveres. Forgive us for the times we have drifted from these basic truths, for allowing distractions to dim the light of Your love within us. We pray for a renewed heart, a deeper understanding of what it means to love You with all our being, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. Open our eyes, Lord, to the needs of those around us. Help us to be less self-absorbed and more attuned to the joys and sorrows of others. Give us the courage to take that “first step,” even the one we don’t want to take, in extending grace, kindness, and compassion. Transform us, by Your Holy Spirit, into people who inherently love, reflecting Your light in a broken world. May our lives be a testament to Your redeeming love, so that all may know we are Your disciples. Amen.

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  • The Love of God

    The Love of God

    Come to the party. Come to the feast. Avail yourselves of all He offers. This is the God to whom we bring our prayers

    Many of us have prayed lifted for children distant from God and spouses not yet walking with Him. We might blame ourselves when your children don’t follow the Lord, but God isn’t in the blame-game. None of us are perfect, nor are we perfect parents. Deep-seated failure often weighs us down, sometimes hindering our relationship with God without our awareness.

    Take a moment to sit quietly and consider: Who is God to you? Picture Jesus, look into His eyes, and see His love there for you.

    Meditate on Psalm 139:

    O Lord, You have examined my heart 
                and know everything about me. 
    You know when I sit down or stand up. 
               You know my thoughts even when I’m far away. 
    You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. 
               You know everything I do. 
    You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord. 

    You go before me and follow me. You place Your hand of blessing on my      head.  You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. 

    You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in Your book. 

                      Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. 

    How precious are Your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, You are still with me!  

    Reflect on this intimacy. God knows you intimately, every thought, every action. He was present in your mother’s womb, carefully forming you. His thoughts toward you are countless. This is the God who loves you deeply and personally. Consider how Jesus treated people in the Gospels – with love and compassion. Place yourself in those stories and imagine His kindness extended to you.

    Jesus told a powerful story of two lost sons and their father’s immeasurable love. The younger son, wanted independence, squandered his inheritance and ended up desperate, tending pigs. In that state he came to his senses, he realized the abundance and love in his father’s house. He recognized his foolishness and resolved to return home.

    The father, filled with love, watched for his son. “While he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming.” He didn’t wait; he ran, embraced him, and showered him with affection. He called for the finest robe, a ring symbolizing restored authority, and sandals marking him as a son. He ordered a lavish feast to celebrate his return.

    The older son, who had stayed home working, heard the celebration. Learning the reason, anger consumed him, and he refused to join. His father pleaded with him. The older son’s reply revealed a heart distant from the Father: “Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!”

    Notice his disrespect: “This son of yours.” He saw his brother as an outsider undeserving of grace. His obedience lacked love and joy; he lived like a slave, not understanding his inheritance as a beloved son. This mirrored the Pharisees Jesus addressed, who criticized His association with sinners.

    “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”

    Many of us, like the older brother, have been in church for years yet fail to grasp God’s immense love and generosity. We might see Him as exacting, feeling unworthy and resenting others’ blessings. Criticizing others can mask our insecurities and distance from the Father’s heart. We miss the truth: “Everything I have is yours.”

    Today, the Father invites each of us: Come to the party. Come to the feast. Avail yourselves of all He offers. This is the God to whom we bring our prayers – a Father who welcomes us and rejoices in the return of His children. As John Newton wrote, 

    “Thou art coming to a King, large petitions with thee bring, for His grace and power are such none can ever ask too much.”

    Reflect:

    1. How do you see yourself in the younger or older son?
    2. Have you ever resented others’ blessings? How did that impact your relationship with God?
    3. Do you believe “everything” the Father has is yours? What hinders you from embracing this?
    4. How does understanding God as this loving Father change your prayers for distant loved ones?
    5. What one step can you take this week to embrace the “feast” the Father offers?

    Closing Prayer:

    Heavenly Father, thank You for the powerful reminder of Your unconditional love in the story of the two lost sons. We confess times we’ve wandered from You and times we’ve remained close yet distant in heart. Forgive us for doubting Your generosity and allowing resentment to grow. Help us truly grasp the depth of Your love, knowing all You have is ours in Christ Jesus. We lift our distant children and spouses to You, trusting Your compassionate heart to draw them home. May we watch with hope and celebrate their return. Strengthen our faith to believe no one is beyond Your reach. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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