For God So Loved

The French say ‘𝕒𝕞𝕠𝕦𝕣,’ the German’s ‘𝕝𝕚𝕖𝕓𝕖,’and the Burmese ‘𝕙𝕜𝕪𝕚𝕥𝕙𝕜𝕪𝕚𝕟𝕟𝕞𝕒𝕪𝕥𝕥𝕒𝕣!’ We say ‘𝕝𝕠𝕧𝕖.’ Dr. Seuss says, “𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯’𝘵 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘴.” Most importantly, what does the bible say about ‘love?’

In Mark 12:30 and 31, Jesus answered the scribes, quoting from the book of Deuteronomy; “𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙇𝙊𝙍𝘿 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙂𝙤𝙙 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩, 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙨𝙤𝙪𝙡, 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙩𝙝. 𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙨𝙩 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩. 𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙙, 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙞𝙩, 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨: 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙣𝙚𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙗𝙤𝙧 𝙖𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛. 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙣𝙤 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙨𝙚.” That certainly is quite a tall order!

The love talked about in the Old Testament is a love that is not just a feeling but an action. The Great I Am showed the children of Israel His love for them; “𝑩𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝑯𝒊𝒔 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒔, 𝑯𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝑬𝒈𝒚𝒑𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕 𝒑𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓,” and our Abba Father showed His eternal love for you; “𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝑮𝒐𝒅 𝒔𝒐 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑯𝒆 𝒈𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝑯𝒊𝒔 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝑺𝒐𝒏, 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒐𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝑯𝒊𝒎 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒉 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆.”

Love is about giving, love is about serving, giving a helping hand to your neighbor, love is being more concerned with giving than receiving. If we were to talk grammar, love would be a noun and a verb! Love is about time, faithfulness and commitment. Love is deeply rooted in relationship; you love someone when you know them fully. The way we know our God is through reading the Word, meditating on His scriptures and listening to His voice. It must be the main motivating factor in how we live our lives.

Do you love the LORD with all your heart, soul, mind and strength? Are you really loving your neighbor, your spouse and your co-worker? Do you look for opportunities to give? 𝗟𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘄𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗦𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗼𝗿 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼 𝘀𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗮𝘀𝗸, 𝗻𝗲𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝘀 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗻𝗲𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗯𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝘀 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲!