The Power of God’s Love
Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.
1 John 4:7
God is love and the more of his love we have in our hearts the more we know the Lord and the more power we have. Love draws us closer to the Lord and pulls away from the world. We can become closer to the Lord than we are to the world, and our soul approaches Heaven on earth.
Love has the power of undergoing all things, having faith in all things, hoping all things. (1 Corinthians 13:7) Love pulls the center of our life from self and places it on God and others. Love pulls us toward God and love gives us self-control over our sinful fleshly desires. Love makes us more Christ-like and our spiritual growth correlates to the growth of God’s love in our hearts.
God is love and his love in our hearts enables us to live in the image of his Son, and we are predestined to live as his Son (Romans 8:29) His Word tells us how to live as Jesus did and love changes our character to that of Jesus. The Word is not a book of rules. It becomes a book describing our new character and how living like Jesus can become natural and desirable for us.
The power of love frees us from sin by taking away any self-centeredness and re-centering it toward God and others. This helps us to overcome our own sinful nature and to live the way we are created to live, giving us life to the full. Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. (1 Peter 4:8)
Love gives courage because God’s love in our hearts casts out Satan’s fear. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. (1 John 4:18) The more love we have in our hearts, the less fear we have, and couple this with faith in Christ further reduces our fear. We all experience some fear from Satan but God’s love overcomes our fear and we experience a freedom that we never thought existed. When Satan’s fear decreases, our courage increases.
Love in our hearts brings us closer to the Lord, because God is love. Love in our hearts also enables us to know and feel the perfect love the Father and the Son have for us. Love opens the door through the Spirit to be one with Christ, and there is nothing in life that compares to knowing Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ. (Philippians 3:8)
Today ask the Lord to fill your heart with his love and reflect his love to others. Love makes us more Christ-like, with less fear, and a more powerful witness for Christ. Love changes us to live as Jesus lived, desiring to serve Christ.
Prayer: Lord, continue to fill my heart with your love as I reflect your love to the world. Help me to live in the power of your love and let my love for the Father and Son forever increase. In Jesus name, Amen