whosoever believeth on him should not perish; but have everlasting life. For God sent not his
Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved."
Even people who are not real Christians can quote this verse. I've known it most of my life;
but to be completely transparent, I grew up hating this verse. I think it was because love
was never really spoken in our house. I was part of a broken family. My mom did her "best"
to raise us, but without a dad, I had no father figure in my life to ask questions to, or be
taught by. Matter of factly, seeing a complete and loving family together broke my heart,
even made me sad and angry. When I heard this scripture read, I felt it was only meant for
the real families, not us lower class, worthless kids.
Hoping one day to have a wife and children, it became apparent to me that I must strive
to understand such a gift. I remember, in Junior High, I had a gym class with some of the
"cool" kids. They had all new everything: shoes, pants, shirts, etc. I had "hand me downs"
and thrift store stuff. One of the big problems for me was that all my socks had holes in
them. It became a point of teasing. It was already November, and I had had enough.
One night, I decided to pray. I asked the Lord if He were really my Heavenly Father, and
if so, could he send me some socks. Within a few days, I received an early Christmas gift;
a check for $25. I was RICH!! That Saturday, my mother cashed the check, and we went to
K-Mart to buy socks. I chose a big bag of white, over the calf socks with two green stripes,
so I could be in color for my school. I spent almost $10 on these beauties. I folded them
neatly, and arranged them in my sock drawer. I was ready for Monday! The next day,
Sunday, I was sitting in church, imagining all the things I could buy with the leftover $15,
when the gentleman speaking about the offering said "if God has blessed you, then bless
someone else." I knew what I needed to do. I gently place the $15 in the offering plate,
and asked God to bless someone else. I realized that I did indeed have a Father, and that
He loved me. This changed my life.
As time went on, I began to try to comprehend His love. In John 13:34-35 we read: "A
new c ommandment I give unto you. That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye
also love one another.By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one
to another." I began to realize that true love needed to be expressed for it to be alive.
All spiritual principles are given so that they might be expressed temporally. Even as God
loved us, so He sent His Son to take on flesh, and sacrifice Himself for us. So, how do I
understand God's love so I can share it? I can't; at least not in my own strength,
by my own understanding. John 4:8 states that God IS love. It's not just one of his
attributes, but it is His nature. So, in order to truly understand God's love, I must begin
to understand God. But this can only be revealed by Him. To begin this understanding, we
must consider what God has revealed. Consider Genesis, chapters one and two. In one,
we read of the spiritual creation of all things. In chapter two, we read of the temporal
creation. Why is this significant? Because we were created first in the spiritual realm.
This means that we are akin to God. Each one of us have within us a spark of the divine.
This reveals to us that love is innate in our character. All human beings crave love from
the beginning of our existence. So, it is our lifes mission to reveal God to this world by
the love that He has created within ourselves. "By this shall all men know that you are
my disciples, if ye have love one for another".
At this juncture, I could drift off, talking about the 4 types of love in the Bible:
Eros: (eeros) Sensual, erotic love.
Storge: (store-jay) Familial love.
Philia: (fill-ee-uh) Botherly love that unites believers.
Agape: (ah-ghap-A) God's love for mankind.
For the purposes of this post, we will only consider Agape love. Again, referring to John
3:16, we see that there are three realities listed: God, love and man. Following these three
realities is one word that speaks to the divine nature- GAVE. This is because the
instrument of love is sacrifice. So, to understand God's love for us, we must simply look
to His Son, Jesus. Let us look at a few of His attibutes:
Steadfast: unshakable in faith.
Longsuffering: when we choose to love, we choose to suffer with them.
Serving: Doesn't give people what "they deserve", but gives what they need.
Sincere: Rejoices when others are blessed.
Humble: Because pride and love cannot exist together.
Self Denying: No "me first" , or "I know my rights" attitude. We are not our own; we were
all bought with a price.
Sympathetic: Not rejoicing over anothers loss. We weep when they weep.
Understand here that love stands alone. It is not predicated on something in return, otherwise
it will change. We must keep our eyes and hearts single to the glory of God. Love doesn't mean we
will always agree. Love doesn't mean we have to all be the same. But, if we are ever to show others
the love of God, it must be shown through love. Love is the only means by which God can draw
humanity back to himsel. Seek Him, and He will reveal Himself. God bless.
