Actually, loving does not take any great effort on our part because it is not something we must put forth great effort to achieve. When God enters our heart, soul, and mind, love is spontaneously produced because He is love. It is a spiritual attainment. It is the result of a cause and the cause is this: God loved us first (1 John 4:19).
This love is not produced by us. No one can love God until he knows that God loves him and we can only love God when we have perceived some reasons for doing so. Each person that has ever been saved never came to God as a lover of God, but as a sinner who had come to believe in God's love for him or her. Our love is connected with this "knowing."
When we realize God's love for us, we become acutely aware of our unworthiness. The more we recognize our own helpless state, the more we understand God's love for us; a love so great that it embraces poor sinner. We love because God first loved us.
God loves us. It is a fact affirmed and validated by the patriarchs, lawgivers, seers, prophets, apostles, teachers, deacons, evangelists. From Genesis to Revelation, a conglomeration of witnesses joined together to make this heavenly announcement: God loves us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died.
But, we cannot claim we love God if we do not love one another; for it is in loving God that we are enabled to love one another, and in loving one another, our love for God is strengthened. Human love is a response to God's love. His love within us creates goodness and transforms the unlovable into the lovable. When this miracle occurs, we discover we love not only others, but ourselves.
No greater claim can any of us make than that we love. Love is a characteristic of those who love God. Love is the great bond of fellowship which binds believers to one another, and to our Lord. We love all men-even our enemies. Like John, we do not claim to love as deeply as we desire to love; we do not claim to love as much as we expect to as we progress in the faith, but we do claim to love. There is no guessing, no speculation, no assumptions, and no inferences.
We Christians stand side by side with John and thousands of others down through the generations to affirm what John declared. That somehow, even in this messed up world, even in times like these when man's inhumanity to man seem to have reached chaotic proportions, we love and we do it because God lives in us and God is love. This is God's eminent challenge to man and one of man's greatest trials.
Rev. Saundra L. Washington, D.D., is an ordained clergywoman, social worker, and Founder of AMEN Ministries. http://www.clergyservices4u.org. She is also the author of two coffee table books: Room Beneath the Snow: Poems that Preach and Negative Disturbances: Homilies that Teach. Her new book, Out of Deep Waters: My Grief Management Workbook, will be available soon.
Culver prom limo ..His name sounds as Finn. He has beautiful blue eyes... Read More
In the early 90's I had a spontaneous Kundalini Awakening... Read More
Luke 11:1 And it came to pass, that, as... Read More
How did an artist accidently learn healing visualizations and improve... Read More
Several months ago, I read an... Read More
The earth is wrapped in a thin, loose shell of... Read More
One cannot ask why bad things happen to good people... Read More
Echo was a flea-bitten gray horse, with brown speckles everywhere,... Read More
James 1:23-24Anyone who listens to the word but does not... Read More
Hello, My name is Mellody Davis and here is my... Read More
Love is mentioned well over 350 times in the Bible.... Read More
Some may ask why in a disaster some people are... Read More
As I sit here and ponder my existence my heart... Read More
INTRODUCTIONSpiritual affirmations are positive, statements of intention, that facilitate manifestation.... Read More
Most of us are familiar with the inner criticism and... Read More
You can think of your Animal Totems as imaginary guides... Read More
Continued from "Origin of Certain Thoughts, Part I"If you haven't... Read More
Are you facing some challenges in your life right now?... Read More
Do you have a servant's heart? Has God blessed you... Read More
Some people go to physics and spiritual readers for advice... Read More
Back in the days of the old law of Moses,... Read More
Connecting with the Moon phases, the Full and New Moon... Read More
Oxford dictionary defines PRAYER as "a request for help or... Read More
It's human nature to point a finger when we think... Read More
The fastest way to raise your frequency is to do... Read More
Wood Dale limo ..As I sat down today to write this article, I... Read More
Most of us are familiar with the inner criticism and... Read More
Today I was in rather a whimsical mood, and so... Read More
When King David was old and well advanced in years?... Read More
In the interest of mankind the Angels are delivering messages... Read More
"Let me tell you why you're here. You're here because... Read More
At first glance it does seem that law and grace... Read More
Lately In my email newsletters (available for FREE at http://www.ChristThroughMe.com... Read More
Human beings are blessed with a unique gift: the gift... Read More
Are you facing some challenges in your life right now?... Read More
"Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being,... Read More
I have a big mouth. If you have read my... Read More
After 6 years, I left an abusive relationship with an... Read More
Did we just overlook the amount of love that God... Read More
The gate of every year is the begining of that... Read More
Good morning Roy, good morning JosethWhat about me, were do... Read More
Now, I will recount in full what happened to me... Read More
Good morning beloved,I always feel a need to let people... Read More
When my dad was nearing the end of his life... Read More
Talking about your "soul" and the deeper things in life... Read More
In God's world, everything can be used as an anology... Read More
We all sin. To avoid using the "s" word, we... Read More
It's amazing how - even when we're working from a... Read More
"They're crazy!" That's what they're saying about us. The majority... Read More
There are no better people to be around than those... Read More
Spirituality |