Do You Really Know What Love Is?

After the resurrection, John recorded several accounts of Jesus appearing to his disciples. One of these is in John 20:19-20, Jesus visited his disciples who locked themselves in a room because they fear the Jewish leaders. Jesus came through those doors, and the first thing he said was “Peace be with you.” I believe that this is what God wants us to do after Easter! To live in peace with one another and to continue to imitate Christ in His character that the world may know that we are truly His!

TEXT: “Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother and sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen cannot love God, whom they have not seen. Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister (1 John 4:20-21).

In these two verses alone, John repeated the word LOVE 5X! John was not referring to some emotion or goosebumps when your eyes cast a beautiful lady or a handsome guy, or your feelings toward the man or the woman of your dreams? He is not referring to the love that many people in this world talks about. To some, getting attention is love! Some become suspicious and jealous if they don’t receive enough love/attention! To the world in general: love is sex and sex is love; hence, when they are denied of sex or don't receive sex, they feel guilty of not giving love to the person they have feelings for. This kind of love is dangerous and invites trouble more than peace. And No! He's not referring either to your performance of good works and good deed.

A lot of people equate love to giving and doing work for God and to the world. And we appreciate the fact that we have philanthropists and humanitarians in this world. They give generously and voluntarily to good causes.

We can admire the humanitarian works of Warren Edward Buffett, an American business magnate, and philanthropist. He is considered one of the most successful investors in the world, and is the third-wealthiest person in the world, with a net worth of US$82.5 billion as of March 9, 2019. This man has pledged to give away 99% of his fortune to philanthropic causes, primarily through the foundation of the founder of Microsoft, Bill & Melinda Gates. Together, they wanted to help end poverty in areas of the world where needed.

BUT, THE LOVE THAT JOHN WAS REFERRING HERE IS THE LOVE THAT IS FROM GOD (v7)– Love THAT YOU, AND I CANNOT produce on our own! That’s why any human invention of Love falls short! IT leaves you wanting and searching. It leaves you void, empty, insecure, and uncertain! Satisfying your need for love is inadequate. You find yourself always in pursuit of approval, of assurance, of validation, over and over again. It is a tiring pursuit, a chasing after the wind! And I say this not to condemn but to graciously lead people to the word of God that heals, corrects and releases you to freedom, and For you to recognize true love from a false sense of love!

The kind of love that John refers to is the love of God that flows from the cross at Calvary where Jesus shed his blood and willingly offered his body as a sacrifice for all of our sins. It flows from his death on the cross to reconcile the conflict that exists between man and God (v9-10)! As far as God is concerned, the gravest need of humanity is far more than physical but spiritual. The greatest need of man is to resolve the conflict man find himself into after the Fall in the Garden. And this needs my friends was resolved by Jesus at the cross, once and for all. God is the aggrieved party. He is the offended party. We are the aggressors. We are the offender. And yet, God, through Christ demonstrates what Love is! God is love (v8)! And this is what He commands us to do. He commands us to do the same! To follow his examples. Our love must be sacrificial. It is sacrificial because you have to give way what you hold dear. It could be your position of being on the right. One that does not “only seek your interest but give more weight on the interest of others. One that is not motivated by selfishness or vain conceit, but one that values others above oneself. “ Phil. 2:3-4.

Our love must be reconciliatory. We must be people who resolve conflict the same way that Jesus did. In times of conflict, Jesus expects us to reconcile and to do it quickly without letting the sun go down (Ephesians 4:26). He expects us to be executors of peace first within ourselves and then to a brother or a sister who may have wronged us OR WE HAVE OFFENDED. The more I meditate on this thought, and I realized that God expects us, believers, to be reconciled and to remain reconciled to every single person.