What I’m memorizing:
Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God,
God abides in him, and he in God.
So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us.
God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God,
and God abides in him.
1 John 4:15-16
I need to love you more. In word. In deed. And differently.
A brother gave me a little book on love. I finished it early Sunday morning. It’s motivated me to remember that my love can be so different than the world’s love.
Not because of me. Because of Him.
Any of us who are filled with His love have a different kind of Love to spill over onto others.
So I looked for some verses on Love to memorize this week. I settled on 1 John 4:15-16.
And I’m concentrating on who and how to better love this week.
And I’ll be thinking about these quotes on love from A New Kind of Love by E. W. Kenyon (1867-1948).
* Natural human love has failed. Why? …because it is based upon selfishness.
* I said, “I can’t do it Master. I can’t love like that. If I loved like that I would be obliged to give away everything I own.”
Then He said so gently, “What is it that you would need to give away?”
I took an inventory of the things that I felt I would have to give away if I loved “even as” He loved me.
After the inventory I said, “But what would I get in place of these rich treasures of mine?”
Then He showed me wealth that I had never seen before.
If I loved even as He loved I would have His companionship. I would have His strength. I would have His gentleness, His forbearance. I would give away the toys of the Senses to get the wealth of the Spirit.
* It took me a long time to make the discovery that love does not spring from our reasoning facilities. They never give birth to a love-life. Love is born of the spirit.
* We can train ourselves so that at the first dawn of consciousness in the morning, we will say, “I have God inside of me today. It is going to be easy to do my work because the Greater one is going to move through me today, act through me, love through me, speak through me. I will not be left alone to meet any crisis. He will be there to make me a success.”
* Love will make you what your heart has craved.
* People will want you because you are a lover. They will come to hear you because everyone wishes to hear a lover. They will linger to talk with you because they want to be loved.
* Everything that has life longs for love. …Don’t give them your philosophy about love. Unveil Jesus to them.
* Every step out of love is a step into trouble. If you will think back over your life, you will find that every mistake you have ever made has been when you stepped out of love or acted outside of love.
The bitter words you spoke that separated you from someone you loved was a step out of love.
Every time we bruise or hurt someone, we step out of love.
* I can understand now that there is only one sin for the Believer, and that is to step outside of Love. All other sins are the children of the mother sin of sins. If I walk in Love, I will never sin. Isn’t that wonderful? That solves the problem of human conduct.
* If you trust in love, you trust in God. You can say, “Greater is love in me than this problem which confronts me, this difficulty which has held me in bondage.”
God is Love.
Live in Love; Love will live in you (1 John 4:15-16).
* * *
Do you need to love better, too?
4 comments:
These are some powerful verses from 1 John. One has to read and re-read them to get full impact of the message. I feel as if these verses are another way of saying that perfect love casts out all fear (of God.) God is FOR us, not against us. Amen and amen!
I linked up for Memory Monday today too (first time). Come say Hi when you get a chance!
Blessings, e-Mom @ Chryalis
1 John is a remarkable letter, yes? No matter how many times I read it, I still can't quite "get it"--God's love is too big to wrap my mind around. And I'm constantly challenged to love much better than what I'm currently doing.
Loved the verses you shared on your blog from Romans. Great stuff.
I like that one toward the middle "Don’t give them your philosophy about love. Unveil Jesus to them."
It's so true that human love is born out of selfishness. The "reasoned" love doesn't quite reach reality. Only God's love, poured out on us and through us, can meet the world where it needs it most.
Exactly, Bekah. Selfishness is not something we have to teach; it comes naturally. So we have to depend on God to give us the supernatural love that comes only from Him.
I like that middle quote, too. Too bad it's much easier to preach about love than to actually love...
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