Last night Mark reminded us that God’s motivation for all He does is love. He also said that the thing God does best is love! So often, we value things differently, looking for manifestations of power that seem ‘remarkable’ to us (speaking in tongues, prophesying, gifts of healing, words of wisdom etc.) and scorning the everyday expressions of love. Yes, as he reminded us, it is love that is eternal, not the ‘remarkable’ things we value so much.
Ultimately, John tells us that ‘we love because He first loved us.’ (1 John 4:19) He tells us that God’s love was manifested through practical action: ‘This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.’ (1 John 4:9) Love was seen through Christ’s sacrifice for us and through the Father’s generosity in giving us His Spiri. (1 John 4:10, 13)
Jeremy Camp sings about this love in the song ‘The Way You Love Me’, rightly identifying God’s love to us as the motivation behind our love, the impetus to reach out and show others God’s love. Nothing less than our abandonment to God and our willingness to be used by Him can fully express our gratitude for His love for us.
We learn to love one another
Through the love of the Father
Who gave a righteous King…
Because of all the love You’ve shown
I will give my life away, give my life away
Because of all the love You’ve shown
I will give my life away, give it all away
So I will lift
The broken ones
Show the world
How You love me
How You love me
I will reach
I will touch
Give myself
The way You love me
The way You love me (‘The Way You Love Me’, Jeremy Camp)
‘The Way You Love Me’, Jeremy Camp