August 2, 2020 ABIDING IN LOVE
1 John 4:15-17, 2:5-6 “Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. And we have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this, love is perfected with us, that we may have confidence in the day of judgement; because as He is, so also are we in this world.” “but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him; the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.”
What we see in these verses is amazing. Abiding is a key word. Grapes do not become grapes by trying; grapes become grapes by simply abiding in the vine. So much of what we hear in the ‘Christian world’ is about us needing to do this or that-pray more, give, more, memorize scripture, go to conferences-or whatever. Those things are good, but why we do them is the issue. You may ask, as someone did recently, what it looks like to abide in love. For sure, I do not have the complete answer, but God is helping me understand more about what it means to abide in His love. We must understand that human love is one thing, and the love of God is something else altogether. Unlike the love of God, human love is fragile and is often selfish in nature. The good news for us is that Romans 5:5 tells us that God has poured out His love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit. Another truth from scripture we must understand is that He has made us new (not refurbished) creations, and as His new creations, we are able to live in a way that reflects His nature. For example, because it is God’s nature to be patient, we can be patient; and like God, we can love the unlovely; we can be gentle; we can be kind-hearted-and etc. We are free from having to try to live a life that pleases God; we can now simply abide in Him, receiving nourishment and life that flows from Him. To abide does not mean that we are idle; to abide means we are receiving and putting to use what we receive. We abide by learning of Him through His word, by praying, and by letting His life flow through us, and by desiring to do the things that are pleasing to Him. It’s not about us living our life; it’s about us dying to ourselves and living as unto the Lord. The love of God cleanses us, makes us new, gives us new desires, and enables us to be expressions of His love to those around us. If we are abiding in, living in love, we are abiding in God for He IS love.
1 John 4:7-8, 3:1 “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” “See what kind of love God has given us, that we should be called the children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know Him.”
Blessings,
Buddy
RSS Feed