Welcome to another day the Lord has made that we should rejoice and be glad in. (Psalms 118:24)

Today we will seek clarity on misunderstandings about love.

1 Corinthians 13:4‭-‬7 (ERV)
describes love…
Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous, it does not brag, and it is not proud. Love is not rude, it is not selfish, and it cannot be made angry easily. Love does not remember wrongs done against it. Love is never happy when others do wrong, but it is always happy with the truth. Love never gives up on people. It never stops trusting, never loses hope, and never quits.

And 1 John 4:16‭-‬19 (ERV) explains…
So we know the love that God has for us, and we trust that love. God is love. Everyone who lives in love lives in God, and God lives in them. If God’s love is made perfect in us, we can be without fear on the day when God judges the world. We will be without fear, because in this world we are like Jesus. Where God’s love is, there is no fear, because God’s perfect love takes away fear. It is his punishment that makes a person fear. So his love is not made perfect in the one who has fear. We love because God first loved us.

Also, 1 Peter 4:8 (ERV)
points out…
Most important of all, love each other deeply, because love makes you willing to forgive many sins.

Consider…
1 John 4:16 declares, God is Love. And Jesus is God, so, let’s read today’s first passage, substituting ‘Love’ with our role model Jesus…

Jesus is patient and kind. Jesus is not jealous, He does not brag, and He is not proud. Jesus is not rude, He is not selfish, and He cannot be made angry easily. Jesus does not remember wrongs done against Him. Jesus is never happy when others do wrong, but He is always happy with the truth. Jesus never gives up on people. He never stops trusting, never loses hope, and never quits.

Do you agree with those descriptions of Jesus?

In John 15:9‭-‬12 (ERV), Jesus said…
“I have loved you as the Father has loved me. Now continue in my love. I have obeyed my Father’s commands, and he continues to love me. In the same way, if you obey my commands, I will continue to love you. I have told you these things so that you can have the true happiness that I have. I want you to be completely happy. This is what I command you: Love each other as I have loved you.

And 1 John 4:7‭-‬8 ERV
says…
Dear friends, we should love each other, because love comes from God. Everyone who loves has become God’s child. And so everyone who loves knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.

Since Jesus, the Son of God, commanded us to love each other as He has loved us, and since we are considered God’s child when we love, because love comes from Him, we ought to be able to declare our first scripture this way…

I am patient and kind. I am not jealous, I do not brag, and I am not proud. I am not rude, I am not selfish, and I cannot be made angry easily. I do not remember wrongs done against me. I am never happy when others do wrong, but I am always happy with the truth. I never give up on people. I never stop trusting, never lose hope, and never quit.

What if we lived that way?

1 John 3:16 (ERV) declares…
This is how we know what real love is: Jesus gave his life for us. So we should give our lives for each other as brothers and sisters.

That’s straight forward, loving like Jesus means giving our lives for our fellow man like Him.

Now, I know some may say that brothers and sisters refers to fellow believers, but I will remind you Jesus clearly told us…

“But I say to you people who are listening to me, love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. Ask God to bless the people who ask for bad things to happen to you. Pray for the people who are mean to you. “I’m telling you to love your enemies and do good to them. Lend to people without expecting to get anything back. If you do this, you will have a great reward. You will be children of the Most High God. Yes, because God is good even to the people who are full of sin and not thankful. Give love and mercy the same as your Father gives love and mercy. – Luke 6:27‭-‬28‭, ‬35‭-‬36 ERV

Lastly, the Holy Spirit led me to include today’s third and final scripture, which says…
Most important of all, love each other deeply, because love makes you willing to forgive many sins.

Remember the part of our new declaration that says, ‘I do not remember wrongs done against me’? Our last scripture used, emphasizes that declaration. However, notice it says when we love deeply, it makes us willing to forgive many sins. So if we’re asking how many times we should forgive someone, we need to take Jesus’ love measuring stick and do a love check in our lives…
“I give you a new command: Love each other. You must love each other just as I loved you. – John 13:34 ERV

Remember, when He said that to His disciples He knew…

• Judas would betray Him
• Peter would deny Him
• Thomas would doubt Him
• All of them would forsake Him

So if Jesus’ love measuring stick shows you’re not full of His love, then you need to add more of Him to your life.

Also, in case you think Jesus’ love was only extended to us when we believed, Ephesians 2:2‭-‬5 (ERV) reminds us…
Yes, in the past your lives were full of those sins. You lived the way the world lives, following the ruler of the evil powers that are above the earth. That same spirit is now working in those who refuse to obey God. In the past all of us lived like that, trying to please our sinful selves. We did all the things our bodies and minds wanted. Like everyone else in the world, we deserved to suffer God’s anger just because of the way we were. BUT God is rich in mercy, and he loved us very much. We were spiritually dead because of all we had done against him. BUT he gave us new life together with Christ. (You have been saved by God’s grace.)

Love isn’t focused on who’s worthy, rather it’s focused on all who need God’s grace and mercy.

God’s love caused Him to pour out His grace on you, and He wants it to overflow to everyone you encounter.

The first fruit that the Holy Spirit produces in our lives is Love. (Galatians 5:22)

And Ephesians 1:4 (ERV) says…
In Christ, he chose us before the world was made. He chose us in love to be his holy people—people who could stand before him without any fault.

This shows me that, with God everything begins and ends with love. However, not love as the world defines it, rather love like Jesus lived it.

Jesus is the standard of love God calls us to live by.

I hope this gives you a better understanding of love 💞

Today’s song is…
Love Like Jesus
https://youtu.be/a4PC9vtsVaA?si=ArJG-iCenTOWPYPL

Blessings 4HG (1 Corinthians 10:31)