God’s Love

(Read 1 John 4)

Alfred Lord Tennyson’s famous poem, “In Memoriam,” affirmed that “It is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.” It also reflected his journey of faith after the death of close friend Arthur Hallam. Despite the tragic sorrow dragging him down, the experience challenged him, and ultimately Tennyson became an even stronger Christian believer adopting the faith that someday he would be reunited with his friend.

Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
1 John 4:8

John, the Apostle, wanted us to know that those who have no love have no fellowship with God. Just knowing who God is isn’t enough, knowing God means having a relationship with Him. In my experience, the best way to understand the nature of God is to understand love. Love comes from God. “God is love.” Love is the very nature of God and is not contingent upon anything. The source of love is God.

When I consider the richness of my life, it’s love that illuminates brighter than everything else. I’m not an overly successful person in career, accolades, or community, but I’ve worked with some impressive organizations and have also run my own business for 25+ years. Disney, Southwest Airlines, and the Baltimore Orioles to name a few, but none of the rewards of these experiences can hold a candle to any love relationships I’ve had.

Does God put people, events, and things in our lives to love them and to lose them? While some of the answers will come to us when we’re looking face to face with our Savior in Heaven, I believe the purpose has more to do with knowing God better. The love we gain from family or friends is God’s light pouring down upon us. It’s a slice of Him. God’s love in our lives is a snapshot of His plan for all His children.

Sadly, my wife and I said goodbye to our beautiful, loving, selfless, German Shepherd, Lily, this week. We knew it was coming. We thought that we were for prepared for it, but you’re never really prepared for that vacuum in your life.

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. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
1 John 4:9-10

I know people who say that they won’t have any more dogs or cats because of the pain their loss takes on them. I get it. Believe me, I understand. Everyone is different and I won’t begin to second guess how someone feels and why they feel that way. For my wife and me, it has always been more about the love we gained from those relationships. It’s about the memories, the joy, the laughs, and tears we encountered together. That’s God’s heart blessing us.

How do we know the extent of God’s love? Read Scripture. The passage above tells us this in no uncertain terms. To show His love, God sent His only Son to live, suffer, and die here so that we can live through Him. I especially love the next verse that begins with, “This is love: not that we loved God, but He loved us…” It’s unconditional, unearned favor laid on our heads in the gentle touch of pure love. In a similar way, that’s how Lily loved us.

God’s sacrifice of Jesus shows the color of His love for us, just like the love we receive from our parents that is unfailing no matter what we did to disgrace or shame them. They might not like us at that moment, but they always love us. I can think of a few times when our children have disappointed us through words or actions. Our reactions, emotional at times, were never from a position other than love. True Godly love does not look for payback, it’s a constant outpouring showered on us with a stamp, “paid in full.”

And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.
1 John 4:16

My Mom and I were really close. I am a lot like her. Over the last few years of her life, we talked on the phone nearly every day. Sometimes about her illness, sometimes about sports, sometimes about nothing. After being diagnosed with cancer, she only lived another four short months. It was horrible. Despite the cruelty of her sickness, my gratitude for her love, outweighed it by a million miles.

I’ve been very blessed with two parents who, despite their differences, loved us with all their hearts. I’ve also been blessed by the shepherding love of my mother-in-law. When I came into their family, I was not a strong believer. Oh I believed in God, but Jesus was not my Savior. I had no real relationship with Him. She lovingly worked on me time and time again. We had disagreements, but even through my stubbornness, love was the basis of every meal, interaction, and conversation. Every one of my sarcastic comments was met with love.

She taught me unconditional and enduring Agape love better than anyone I can think of. She lived in love, she lived in God, and God lived in her. Believe it or not, Agape love is abundant everywhere. Yes, we’re living in a fallen world, but because the Holy Spirit is here, love abounds. Nothing shouts pure love like your grandchildren’s reactions to each visit. Eyes sparkling, arms raised, and total abandonment of calm. It’s an expression of sheer joy and love. I love it because it’s unabashed praise instead of control and decorum. It’s the way God wants us to love and show love!

My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand.
John 10:27-29

Christians are commanded to love God and each other above everything else. Seems simple, but as one guy in small group says, “We can’t even get that right.” Jesus first loved us, so it should be easy to extend that same courtesy to strangers, friends, and family right? When I think of loving others, I think of Jesus. I think of Lily. I also think of every single piece of heaven expressed through love to me in my 61 years.

God put us in each other’s lives for a reason. We gain love from every relationship He planned. Our love is be relentless, without record keeping or memory. Do we love with the faithfulness of Jesus? We will lose loved ones, but we will never lose their love. Our Lily only asked for our love. If for some reason we wouldn’t give it to her, she still would have loved us the same. That’s how Jesus loves. I think that God puts people and things in our lives to understand love better and to know Him better.

Actor Jimmy Stewart read this poem about his dog Beau on the Johnny Carson show many years ago. It speaks volumes about the kind of love that doesn’t fade.

We are early-to-bedders at our house — I guess I’m the first to retire
And as I’d leave the room he’d look at me
And get up from his place by the fire
He knew where the tennis balls were upstairs
And I’d give him one for a while
He would push it under the bed with his nose
And I’d fish it out with a smile.
And before very long He’d tire of the ball
And be asleep in his corner In no time at all
And there were nights when I’d feel him Climb upon our bed
And lie between us
And I’d pat his head.
And there were nights when I’d feel this stare
And I’d wake up and he’d be sitting there
And I reach out my hand and stroke his hair.
And sometimes I’d feel him sigh and I think I know the reason why.
He would wake up at night
And he would have this fear
Of the dark, of life, of lots of things
And he’d be glad to have me near
And now he’s dead.

And there are nights when I think I feel him
Climb upon our bed and lie between us
And I pat his head
And there are nights when I think I feel that stare
And I reach out my hand to stroke his hair,
But he’s not there
Oh, how I wish that wasn’t so
I’ll always love a dog named Beau
Jimmy Stewart

1. Read 1 John 4. Who do you think of when you read this? Have you been given a gift of unconditional love from them?
2. ow can you love people the way Jesus calls us to? Pray for His wisdom to show you the best way to start. It might not happen immediately, but through Jesus it will happen.
3. Be gentle with others. Being loving isn’t about winning favors, it’s about undeserved favor.

Where else in your life can you live out the teachings of Christ? Look for next week’s Devotion.