What difference does it make? 1 John 4:7-5:5
With such an emphasis on love in these verses, does God’s love actually change anything about my response to life? Life is unpredictable, and, left to my own devices, my natural response to life is fear. My tendency is to fear uncertainties, discomfort, and hardships, to flee what’s hard, and to fight against heartache. I fear these situations because each one threatens loss: separation in relationships, lack of comfort, and loss of perceived control. So what does God’s love have to do with my fear?
John had previously introduced God as light, which means He is perfect, and so is His love.
His perfectly present love cannot be hindered by disaster.
His perfectly whole love cannot be severed by sickness.
His perfectly sufficient love cannot be used up in need.
His perfectly unwavering love cannot be swayed by politics.
His perfectly stable love cannot be threatened by danger.
His perfectly gentle love cannot be cut off by violence.
His perfectly powerful love cannot be overcome by demons.
His perfectly eternal love cannot be manipulated by time.
This kind of Romans 8 love walks into my life, and suddenly my heart looks like a hoarder’s house, fears stuffed to the brim and life consumed by them. What’s all this doing in here?!
His perfect love casts out fear.
If God’s love has made itself at home in your heart, what are the fears that He would take to the curb on trash day?
And how does God’s love change how I react to people? Left to my own devices, my natural reaction to people is reservation. If God’s love for me was dependent on my gold-star efforts to love people, I’d still be waiting for the sticker. It’s not easy to love, and more often than not, my account feels overdrawn. I’m the classic introvert, storing up time alone and calculating whether I have enough to run on for time in a crowd.
If God commanded the kind of love Jesus showed, and didn’t resource us for it, we’d fail to obey. And this is why John points to the Spirit in us, differentiating our ability to love naturally and our ability to love supernaturally. God’s love revealed in Jesus’ life isn’t a show of extroversion; it’s a supernatural sacrifice of self.
If I lean on myself, I don’t feel loving. And that’s why I so often desperately pray: Lord, You’ll have to love this person through me, using my physical presence with them to show Your love. I don’t have it in me, but You do, and You’re in me. Love them through the words I speak. Love them through the food I prepare. Love them through the adjustments I make. Show up for them through me. Only because of the Spirit, His command to love is not burdensome.
Is your love more dependent on your personality or on the Spirit?
