God's Love

by Heather Keating

What is God’s love? Is it real? Is Gods love conditional? Can we earn His love? Can we buy His love? Are there do’s and don’ts to His love? Is it like a game, if you make all the right moves you win, are awarded with His love. NO absolutely not.

 His love is -never ending

-Absolutely free to whosoever will receive Him.

-cannot be bought or earned by good works

-Very real

-Unconditional

-Priceless

-compassionate

-no game to play

Love comes from God who is love, has always been and will always be - as God and love cannot be separated. He wants us to experience the fullness of His love. That comes and grows by knowing Him better through His word, spending time praying and seeking Him, being tuned in to hear Him when He speaks to us through the Holy Spirit.

Reading the word is important and equally important is putting it into action in our lives what the word directs us to do to be a strong Christian so that we grow and never give up.

I hear many say when they got saved. For me I wish I knew but I don’t know that date, but I know He is my Lord and Savor. I can tell you the place where I received the evidence of the Holy Spirit in speaking in tongues. I can testify of His keeping power. I was blessed to be raised in a Christian Home. I never turned away from Him. But for those that may have, remember the Heavenly Father is always waiting and helping us to come back to Him as He loves all of us so much. Many that have gone through difficult times have given their lives to Christ and do great things for the glory of God. It is important to remember anything that we do for God that He blesses that all glory and the praise goes to Him.

Think of how vast His love is that He has never given up on mankind. How forgiving He is when we mess up.

 Love is not selfish. Love is not just about us. It’s wanting the best for others. Its caring and doing what we can for others in need.

Love encourages those that struggle. Build them up.

Being patient and having compassion for someone who may irritate us. Sometimes there are personality clashes but God’s love operating in us will keep the peace.

 Luke 6:31 – NKJV – “³¹ And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise.”

1 John 4:7-12 Amplified Bible - God Is Love  - ⁷ Beloved, let us [unselfishly] ^[a]love and seek the best for one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves [others] is born of God and knows God [through personal experience]. ⁸ The one who does not love has not become acquainted with God [does not and never did know Him], for God is love. [He is the originator of love, and it is an enduring attribute of His nature.] ⁹ By this the love of God was displayed in us, in that God has sent His [One and] only begotten Son [the One who is truly unique, the only One of His kind] into the world so that we might live through Him. ¹⁰ In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation [that is, the atoning sacrifice, and the satisfying offering] for our sins [fulfilling God’s requirement for justice against sin and placating His wrath]. ¹¹ Beloved, if God so loved us [in this incredible way], we also ought to love one another. ¹² No one has seen God at any time. But if we love one another [with unselfish concern], God abides in us, and His love [the love that is His essence abides in us and] is completed and perfected in us.

John 3:16 (Amplified Bible) - ¹⁶ “For God so [greatly] loved and dearly prized the world, that He [even] gave His [One and] ^[a]only begotten Son, so that whoever believes and trusts in Him [as Savior] shall not perish, but have eternal life.”

God not only gave His love, but His love moved Him to give His only Son, Jesus who paid the gruesome price by dying on the cross. Don’t think because His Father was God that this was an easy task. Jesus was deity and human when He went to the cross. Because of His love for His Heavenly Father, He wanted to do His Fathers will, not His own. Jesus loved mankind so much that besides obeying His Father His love showed the love he had for mankind as well. In doing this He made forgiveness become available through repentance, no more animal sacrifices. Giving us a place to abide in heaven. The gift of the Holy Spirit who is always with us. Jesus showed us agape love.

Agape love – a selfless, sacrificial, unconditional commitment to act in the best interests of others before our own self.

1 John 4:16 Amplified Bible – “¹⁶ We have come to know [by personal observation and experience], and have believed [with deep, consistent faith] the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides continually in him.”

Romans 8:35-39 (New Living Translation) “³⁵ Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? ³⁶ (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”^[a]) ³⁷ No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.”

³⁸ And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,^[b] neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. ³⁹ No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

The book of Romans teaches us about growing in Godliness. Because of Jesus and the sacrifice, He made on the cross for us we can receive abundant grace, and the gift of righteousness, we are made righteous through Him. With this gift of grace comes responsibility to not abuse it by sinning willingly but it grants us the freedom to live and grow in godliness. That if we make a mistake He will forgive us when we repent. These scriptures are saying that there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God. Even in death we go from this earth with Gods love to Heaven in Gods presence, experiencing His so great a love in person.

In 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 we are told that love is patient, kind, not jealous or boastful, or proud or rude. Doesn’t demand its own way, not irritable. Doesn’t keep a long book of all the times we have been wronged. Does not rejoice about injustice but does rejoice when ever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. Love, God’s love will last forever. When we walk in that precious love, we will be a living testimony of God. A witness unto others that we may even be asked what is it about you, your different than most.

Love takes work, and its not always easy to be patient and kind when someone is irritating us. But when we stop and take a deep breath before we speak it can save hurts, so that we don’t say something we wish we hadn’t said. Love is deciding to be in tune with God and choosing to walk in His love. Our emotions can cause us to speak first and regret secondly. Let’s put love first.

Love takes more work on days that things go south but we still need to walk in love. You probably have heard the saying, “Its quicker to put a fire out if you don’t feed it.” Same with our words. When there is discord react in love and not in emotion. When we sow love we are not sowing discord in situations of difficulty. We can be enjoying the peace of God. Love conquers all. Gang members in New York City were won over by the love of God years ago. Even the toughest person can be unarmed with love.

I know we are all human and sometimes it is easier said then done, but we must strive to be a doer of the word, to walk in love and kindness. The closer we get to our Heavenly Father with the help of the Holy Spirit and His word getting deep in our spirits we will overcome, we will never be perfect, but we can be the best representative of Jesus on this earth that we can be. How we respond to others is crucial.

Ephesians 2:4-5 Amplified Bible – “⁴ But God, being [so very] rich in mercy, because of His great and wonderful love with which He loved us, ⁵ even when we were [spiritually] dead and separated from Him because of our sins, He made us [spiritually] alive together with Christ (for by His grace—His undeserved favor and mercy—you have been saved from God’s judgment).”

Jude 21 (Message Bible) – ^“ But you, dear friends, carefully build yourselves up in this most holy faith by praying in the Holy Spirit, staying right at the center of God’s love, keeping your arms open and outstretched, ready for the mercy of our Master, Jesus Christ. This is the unending life, the real life!”