WHAT’S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH ANYTHING?

BIBLE PASSAGE:
“…so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.
And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,
may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how
wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ…”
(Ephesians 3:17-18)

MEDITATION:
Pop singer, Tina Turner had a song titled,
    “What’s Love Got To Do With It?”
That song included these lyrics,
    “What’s love but a second-hand emotion?”
    “Who needs a heart when a heart can be broken?”
    “What’s love but a sweet old-fashioned notion?”
In summary, these words are saying, “We don’t need love”

But God tells us of the importance of having love in our lives. Have
you ever thought about measuring the size of someone’s love? We
might be able to detect if another person really has a love for us, but
measuring their love is impossible, isn’t it? Although actions can be
an expression of love, love is a feeling, and how can that be measured?

We can try to estimate the sincerity of someone’s love by their words
and actions, but exact measurements of the size of their love cannot be
calculated. If their words and actions show love, then we can assume
they have love. But have you considered: if we don’t have love in our
own hearts, we may not know what to look for as an indication of love
in others.

Some say that if we are to receive love, we need to give love. That means
that we need to express love through our words and actions, doesn’t it?

How could we describe love? It is an emotion and a feeling felt for
another person, right? Webster defines it as
    “A variety of different feelings, states, and attitudes”
Feelings, states, and attitudes can be detected in others, but none
of them are measurable. Restricting any of them, or love itself, to
some precise measurement is impossible.

When God says He loves us, it means He has an emotional
connection with us. When we love someone, we connect
with them emotionally, and we consider them important
to us. Because God considers us important to Him and
His earthly ministry, He loves us!

Meditate on that for a moment. God loves you so much and
considers you important enough that He wants what is best
for you. Not only that, but He also wants you to join Him in
a place called heaven at the end of your earthly journey.

Some people may ‘give up’ on a loved one who keeps doing the
wrong things, but God doesn’t give up on us when we fall into
sin. It’s as if He is cheering for us to get up and get out of sin,
so we won’t have to face the consequences of our bad choices
now, and at the end of our lives.

Look at how God feels about you and your destiny:
    The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise,
    as some understand slowness. Instead He is
    patient with you, not wanting anyone to
    perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
    (2 Peter 3:9)

Sometimes people say they love us, but their actions fail
to support their words. But look at God’s actions and
how convincingly they support His words.
    For God so loved the world that He gave
    His one and only Son, that whoever believes
    in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.
    (John 3:16)

For us to better understand the magnitude of God’s love for us,
the scriptures tell us that we need to be ‘rooted’ and ‘established’
in love. That means when we are saved, we have a new capacity
to love, and we show our love by the way we live and interact
with others.

Unless we understand love as an action of giving, we will struggle
understanding it from a receiving perspective. In other words, we
may expect love from others without understanding we need to be
givers of love.

For us have love and show it, we are given a prerequisite which is,
Christ needs to dwell in our hearts. It kind of makes sense, doesn’t it?
Since God represents the epitome of love, we must have love, in order
to know Him.
    Whoever does not love does not
    know God, because God is love.
    (1 John 4:8)

When Christ lives in our hearts, we have love, we show love,
and we give love. And, as a result, we are told that we will be
able to understand the magnitude of God’s love. If He doesn’t
exist in our hearts, then we are left to our own interpretation
of His love (which will fall far short of an accurate assessment
of His love).

The scriptures don’t tell us that we can precisely measure
the width, the length, the height, and the depth of the love
of Christ; His Word tells us that we will be able to grasp the
vastness of His love. When we understand the magnitude of
His love for us, we grow in our relationship with Him.

Since the starting point of love is to have Christ in our hearts,
how can we invite Him into our hearts and allow Him to dwell
within us? It’s a good question and the scriptures give us the
answer. It starts with faith.

If we don’t have a faith in the existence of Jesus, and believe He
was crucified for our sins, resurrected, and is now with His Father
in heaven, then He is not going to live in our hearts. If He doesn’t
live in our hearts, then we will not have the kind of love He has,
and the scriptures tell us, we will not know God.

If we don’t know God, what should
we expect at the end of life’s journey?
    Then I will tell them plainly,
    ‘I never knew you. Away
    from Me, you evildoers!’
    (Matthew 7:23)

Compare the previous scripture to this one and decide
which one you want to hear when you see Jesus face to face.
    “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful
      servant! You have been faithful with a few things;
      I will put you in charge of many things. Come and
      share your master’s happiness!’
      (Matthew 25:21)

ACTION:
Some experts claim that our society is sick. There is a cry to change
society, change the nation, and change the world, but nothing is
going to change until we change ourselves. It is not something we
wait for others to do first; we need to change ourselves and become
people with the love of Christ in our hearts. With His love, we will
be prepared to obey His command:
    For this is the message you heard from
    the beginning: We should love one another.
    (1 John 3:11)

So where is your life in relation to the things outlined above? How
is your faith in the existence, crucifixion, resurrection and Sonship
of Jesus Christ? Have you invited Christ to live and feel at home in
your heart?

Does your life demonstrate love in the things you do and say? Do you
understand the magnitude of Christ’s love and its impact on the world
in general, and on you specifically? Are there any ‘things’ getting in the
way of Christ’s love being a part of your life?

Is it a selfish attitude that is not willing to allow Jesus to be in control?
Could it be a ‘pet’ sin that you have not broken free from? Whatever it
might be, pray about it and ask the Lord to help you overcome it and to
fill you with the kind of love He has for you and everyone else.

Pray,
“Heavenly Father thank You for the enormousness of Your
love for me. I am overwhelmed when I realize that You, the
Creator of all things, consider me important enough to be
loved and to be used in Your ministry. You know me better
than I know myself and I cannot hide the ‘real’ me from You.
I understand that for You to use me to the fullest, I need to
develop and maintain a loving spirit. I know that I cannot
do this alone, but Your Word tells me that when Your Son
lives in my heart, it is possible. If I have not exercised my
faith and fully invited Jesus into my heart, I do so right now.
I look forward to a ‘new’ me who is full of love that overflows
and can be seen in my words and actions.”

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