For God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son so that anyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:16 [TLB]
The fourth candle of Advent is the Candle of Love. Love is the central theme of the Christmas story. God’s love for His children, Joseph’s love for his betrothed, Mary, Mary’s love for her baby. Jesus is love in human form – His name, Emmanuel, means “God with us”, born a baby, fully human and fully God. Love is the very foundation of our Christian faith.
I am reading Shauna Letellier’s wonderful book, Remarkable Advent-God’s Extraordinary Plan through Ordinary People. She talks about Joseph and his love for Mary. The feelings of betrayal and shame he must have felt when Mary told him that she was with child; the feelings of confusion that the child was the Son of God. Wasn’t that blasphemy? Then he encounters the angel. The same angel that Mary spoke of, who called him “Joseph, son of David”. What love for God these two young people had to be obedient to the very difficult call on their lives. What love Joseph had for Mary to not abandon her, but to marry her in spite of her pregnancy. Afterall, adultery was a stonable offense and according to Jewish law, Mary was an adulterer. No one would care that the Father was Almighty God. They wouldn’t have believed her anyway.
The Bible is full of love, the tough, enduring, eternal kind of love. God’s extraordinary plan to reunite with his beloved creation, us His children, was started in the Garden of Eden, and played out in Bethlehem, when Jesus Christ stepped out of heaven and into time, to pay the price demanded by sin (“the wages of sin is death” Romans 6:23), and make a way for us to be reunited with our Heavenly Father.
Love is very patient and kind, never jealous or envious, never boastful or proud, never haughty or selfish or rude. Love does not demand its own way. It is not irritable or touchy. It does not hold grudges and will hardly even notice when others do it wrong. It is never glad about injustice, but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. If you love someone you will be loyal to him no matter what the cost. You will always believe in him, expect the best of him and always stand your ground in defending him.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 [TLB]
This is not love as the world defines it. This is love as God defines it. He is, after all, the Source of love. The bible is full of scriptures that talk about love. It is not a feeling. It is a decision, a commitment, an action, a commandment. It’s something we are required to do. And Jesus provides the blueprint on how to walk to the love walk. And the first step in our love walk is to love the Lord your God “with all your heart and soul and mind and strength” Mark 12:29-31 [TLB].
The most important (commandment),” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 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 12:29-31 [NIV] [Emphasis mine]
The scripture that really leapt out at me is Colossians 3:14. The instruction is to “put on love”. Again, a conscious decision, not a feeling.
Here are some scriptures to meditate on to remind you of the power of God’s love in your life (all from The Living Bible):
1 Corinthians 16:14 – And whatever you do, do it with kindness and love.
1 Corinthians 13:13 – There are three things that remain – faith, hope, and love – and the greatest of these is love.
John 15:9-13 – “And I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Live within my love. When you obey me you are living in my love, just as I obey the Father and live in his love. I have told you this so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your cup of joy will overflow. I demand that you love each other as much as I love you. And here is how to measure it – the greatest love is shown when a person lays down his life for his friends;”
1 John 4:8 – But if a person isn’t loving and kind, it shows that he doesn’t know God – for God is love.
1 Peter 4:8 – Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love makes up for many of your faults.
1 John 4:18-19 – We need have no fear of someone who loves us perfectly; his perfect love for us eliminates all dread of what he might do to us. If we are afraid, it is for fear of what he might do to us, and shows that we are not fully convinced that he really loves us. So you see, our love for him comes as a result of his loving us first.
Proverbs 10:12 – Hatred stirs up old quarrels, but love overlooks insults.
Psalm 86:15 – But you are merciful and gentle, Lord, slow in getting angry, full of constant loving kindness and of truth.
Romans 5:8 – But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.
Ephesians 2:4-7 – But God is so rich in mercy; he loved us so much that even though we were spiritually dead and doomed by our sins, he gave us back our lives again when he raised Christ from the dead – only by his undeserved favour have we even been saved – and lifted us up from the grave to glory along with Christ, where we sit with him in the heavenly realms – all because of what Jesus Christ did.
Romans 13:10 – Love does no wrong to anyone. That’s why it fully satisfies all of God’s requirements. It is the only law you need.
Ephesians 4:2-3 – Be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowances for each other’s faults because of your love.
Shauna Letellier’s stories can be found on her blog – www.shaunaletellier.com
Voyage through Life 