Good News #116: God Loves Me So Much That He Sent His Son, Jesus Christ, To Be the Atonement for All My Sins!
We are not knocking off the love for God.
Needless to say, loving God is a given in the Christian life. It is a Christian’s natural response to God’s love for us.
HOWEVER… it is vanity to presume that our love for God is paramount… when in fact, it is only secondary… an outflow of His love FOR us… and as already said, it is a response to His love FOR us…
A lot of us, sincere Christians, fall into the trap of putting more value into our love FOR God instead of knowing God’s love FOR us. We fall into the trap of idolizing our love for God which is displayed in being active in ministry, obedience, charity, good works, etc. and listen, all these are good… but none of these (even combined) is more superior than the love OF God FOR us.
Paul puts it this way in 1 Corinthians 13:1-3…
Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.
And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.
Speaking prophecies, mysteries, knowledge, faith, giving, self-sacrificing for others are just a few of the ways to show we love God…and Paul is saying that though we do all of these, without God’s love filling us inside, it profits us nothing…
This is illustrated in the account of Martha and Mary… where Martha was more occupied in wanting to serve The Lord… whereas Mary was more occupied in letting Jesus serve her His very words of spirit and life…
Listen, Jesus did not rebuke Martha for her want to serve Him…He simply elevated Mary’s want to be served by Him…
In Luke 10:42, Jesus said…
“…one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”
The gospel is this — Love is God’s love FOR us…not our love for Him.
We love because He first loved us. [1 John 4:10]
Whatta God we have!
He loves on us so we can have the capacity to respond to Him in love and love others in the process, too
✨❤️✨❤️✨❤️✨❤️✨❤️✨
In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
1 John 4:10
