Loving Like God Loves

How do we love like God loves?

I believe these two verses are key;

From the Old Testament

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: 

Fear God, and keep his commandments: 

for this is the whole duty of man. Ecclesiastes 12:13

Form the New Testament

Now the purpose of the commandment is love 

from a pure heart

from a good conscience, and 

from sincere faith, 1 Timothy 1:5

But before we go any farther, the following is an excerpt from TrustinginJesus, explaining how the law is broken down and how it pertains to us today from people with a lot more biblical knowledge than I.

The Old Testament Law, identifies sin and teaches the need for salvation; God's grace gives us that salvation through Jesus Christ.

There are over 600 Jewish Ceremonial Laws and Rituals listed in the Old Testament. These are the laws that Paul said no longer apply.

Ceremonial Law: This type of law related to Israel's worship. (Lev 1:1-13) The laws pointed forward to Jesus Christ and were no longer necessary after Jesus' death and resurrection. Though we are no longer bound to them, the principles behind the ceremonial laws, to worship and love God, still apply.

Civil Law: This law dictated Israel's daily living (Deut 24:10-11); but modern society and culture are so radically different that some of these guidelines cannot be followed specifically. The principles behind the commands are to guide our conduct.

Moral Law: The moral laws are direct commands of God. A good example is the Ten Commandments (Ex 20:1-17). The moral laws reveal the nature and will of God, and still apply to us today. We do not obey this moral law as a way to obtain salvation, but to live in ways pleasing to God. (segments from, "Life Application Study Bible")

https://www.trusting-in-jesus.com/Old-Testament-Law.html

We did not love God first, God loved us first. Before we can love like God loves, we must know God. And we cannot know God if we refuse to receive the One He sent.

Jesus said,

You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.

 “I do not receive honor from men. But I know you, that you do not have the love of God in you.  I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, him you will receive. How can you believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God? John 5:39-44

Here are the attributes of the love of God as found in Scripture.

Love suffers long and is kind; 

love does not envy; 

love does not parade itself, 

is not puffed up; 

does not behave rudely, 

does not seek its own, 

is not provoked,

thinks no evil;

does not rejoice in iniquity, 

but rejoices in the truth;

bears all things, 

believes all things, 

hopes all things, 

endures all things.

Love never fails. 

1 Corinthians 13:4-8

It’s nice to know the attributes of God’s love, but just how does that help us love like God loves? I hope this blog sheds light on that. 

So, to be clear, this blog is not about how we can be good enough for God to love us, for while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8

And this blog is not about us never, ever sinning again, because we all know we will slip up from time to time for only God is perfect.

And this blog is not about, if we do everything God commands us to do, everything in our lives will be wonderful, because we all know that sometimes, for reasons we may never know on this side of eternity, bad things happen to good people, and besides that, we will will not do everything God commands us to do every time. That’s why we need Jesus!

This blog is about how to love like God loves.

And loving like God loves is not the Holy Spirit taking complete control over us, it is our yielding to the Holy Spirit of love. It is our obedience. It is our choice. The Spirit pours out the love.

And as I stated, it all starts when we hear the good news about Jesus and choose to believe in the plan that He and the Father and the Holy Spirit of truth and grace put in place to save us. We are accepting a big truth! We are believing in God’s great love for us, and that my friends is the beginning of our journey of loving like God loves. 

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. 1 John 4:7-9

Jesus said this about abiding in God’s love,

If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as 

I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.

John 15:10

Keeping God’s commandments is how we abide in God’s love. When we are abiding in God’s love, we can love like God loves, because God’s commandments are love.

To understand this keeping of God’s commandment more clearly, let us start in the beginning. You see, in the beginning God’s command was broken. It was a commandment that would lead to a good life if it was kept. For you see, God gave man access to every tree in the beautiful garden except one. That is kind. God is kind.

And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” Genesis 2:16-17

God gave this commandment to Adam before Eve was ever created. And Eve is the one that was deceived.

For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.

1 Timothy 2:13-14 

Is it possible that Eve took Adam’s attention off of keeping God’s command? This distraction or disobedience lead them both into what was harmful; knowledge of evil. And we all fell for it. 

the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it (the forbidden tree) your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate…Genesis 3:4-7

Did they not believe what God said? 

Surely, it takes faith in God to keep God’s commandments. 

And God was kind when He banned them from the tree of life.

Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”— therefore the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life. 

Genesis 3:22-24

Noah, Abraham and Moses all believed God and obeyed God.

God told Noah to build an ark because He was bringing in a flood, and so this is just what Noah did. And his whole family was saved.

Make yourself an ark…Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he. Genesis 6:14-22 

By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house;…Hebrews 11:7 

Abraham, the father of faith and a friend of God, believed God and obeyed God.

…Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Romans 4:3

By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. Hebrews 11:8 

The Lord told Abraham’s son, Issac,

I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.Genesis 26:4-5 

Moses

After years in Egypt, the children of Israel were brought out of the bondage by God, by the hand of Moses. And it was Moses that God gave the law which contained 600+ commands.

Why did the law of God have so many commandments?

God gave the commandments for the welfare of His people. The laws were about health, prosperity, relationships and everything else that would promote a good life. But they were perfect laws from a perfect God given to imperfect people. When the people broke the laws, they had ceremonial practices put in place to atone for their sins.  

Observe and hear all these words which I command thee, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee for ever, when thou doest that which is good and right in the sight of the Lord thy God. Deuteronomy 12:28 

Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer,

The Holy One of Israel:

“I am the Lord your God,

Who teaches you to profit,

Who leads you by the way you should go.

Oh, that you had heeded My commandments!

Then your peace would have been like a river,

And your righteousness like the waves of the sea: Isaiah 48:17-18

Today, we have the blood of Jesus to atone for sin! 

Jesus said,

If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well; but if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors. For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all. For He who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty. For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment. 

James 2:8-13

And the commandments of God show what sin is. 

…if it had not been for the Law, I would not have recognized sin. For I would not have known [for example] about coveting [what belongs to another, and would have had no sense of guilt] if the Law had not [repeatedly] said, “You shall not covet.” Romans 7:7 AMP

The 10 commandments summarize the moral commands in the law that pertain to us to this day.

We see that adultery is the only sexual sin mentioned in the 10 commandments but the other sexual sins are all written down for us in Leviticus, chapter 18, and they are all just as detrimental to us as adultery is.

And then there’s this warning in the New Testament

For ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication:1 Thessalonians 4:2-3

Jesus gave the two greatest commandments that fulfill all the law demands.

“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”

Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets. Matthew 22:36-40 

And I believe that loving God with all our heart is key to loving God with all our mind and strength because if we give God first place in our hearts, it will influence what we think and do.

When God is first, we will want to know all about Him, and we will discover the way God loves.

So, here are the 10 Commandments that God wrote with His own finger and gave to Moses.

“So I made an ark of acacia wood, hewed two tablets of stone like the first, and went up the mountain, having the two tablets in my hand. And He wrote on the tablets according to the first writing, the Ten Commandments, which the Lord had spoken to you in the mountain from the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly; and the Lord gave them to me. Deuteronomy 10:3-4

Keeping the first 5, is how we love God.

 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

 “You shall have no other gods before Me. 

 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting[c] the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

 “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.

 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that isin them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.

Keeping these last ones, is how we love like God.

 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.

—Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;) That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth. Ephesians 6:2-3

 “You shall not murder.

“You shall not commit adultery.

 “You shall not steal.

 “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.”

God’s reaction to sin hasn’t changed since way back then, the big difference is the blood of Jesus now atones for sins. And when we are absolved by our belief and confession, God writes His laws into our hearts and minds and obedience becomes more of a ‘heart thing’ for us.

 “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them,” then He adds, “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” Now where there is remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin. Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching 

Hebrews 10:16-25

Now bear with me as we look at disobedience, aka sin, in the Old Testament. 

Again, if we love and honor God, we will obey God. We may trip up now and then, like David did, but godly sorrow and repentance should immediately follow. And sometimes it takes God sending someone to tell us just how bad the sin actually is, like in David’s case after committing adultery and murder. 

Now David was a man after God’s heart, yet he still sinned. God sent Nathan to tell him how just how terrible the sin was. 

Then the Lord sent Nathan to David. And he came to him, and said to him: “There were two men in one city, one rich and the other poor. The rich man had exceedingly many flocks and herds. But the poor man had nothing, except one little ewe lamb which he had bought and nourished; and it grew up together with him and with his children. It ate of his own food and drank from his own cup and lay in his bosom; and it was like a daughter to him. And a traveler came to the rich man, who refused to take from his own flock and from his own herd to prepare one for the wayfaring man who had come to him; but he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.”

So David’s anger was greatly aroused against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this shall surely die! And he shall restore fourfold for the lamb, because he did this thing and because he had no pity.”

Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your keeping, and gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if that had been too little, I also would have given you much more! Why have you despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in His sight? You have killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword; you have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the people of Ammon.

2 Samuel 12:1-9 

And later in life, David interceded for his people that they would not be punished for his sin. David not only loved God, he loved the people.

David spoke to the Lord when he saw the angel who was striking the people, and said, “Surely I have sinned, and I have done wickedly; but these sheep, what have they done? Let Your hand, I pray, be against me and against my father’s house.”. 2 Samuel 24:17  

The difference between a good king and a bad king was in keeping or not keeping God’s commands. The law of God, or God, teaches us what is good for all.

A good king would honor God and keep His commandments. He would read the book of the law so he would,

• learn to fear the Lord

• keep and do His commandments

• guard his heart from pride that would eventually go against the people that were underneath him.

When you come to the land which the Lord your God is giving you, and possess it and dwell in it, and say, ‘I will set a king over me like all the nations that are around me…Also it shall be, when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write for himself a copy of this law in a book, from the one before the priests, the Levites.  And it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God and be careful to observe all the words of this law and these statutes, that his heart may not be lifted above his brethren, that he may not turn aside from the commandment to the right hand or to the left, and that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his children in the midst of Israel Deuteronomy 17:14,18-20 

But a bad king would turn his back on God’s commandments and was considered rebellious. Saul was rebellious. He turned his back from following the Lord, and did not keep His commandments. When he rejected the word of the Lord, the Lord rejected him from being king. This is not because God is a severe ruler, but a king that would break the law of God would be a king that would not be a good ruler for the people.

I greatly regret that I have set up Saul as king, for he has turned back from following Me, and has not performed My commandments.” And it grieved Samuel, and he cried out to the Lord all night…

So Samuel said, “When you were little in your own eyes, were you not head of the tribes of Israel? And did not the Lord anoint you king over Israel? Now the Lord sent you on a mission, and said, ‘Go, and utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.’ Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord? Why did you swoop down on the spoil, and do evil in the sight of the Lord?”

Saul said to Samuel, “But I have obeyed the voice of the Lord, and gone on the mission on which the Lord sent me, and brought back Agag king of Amalek; I have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. But the people took of the plunder, sheep and oxen, the best of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.”

And Samuel answered that:

“Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,

As in obeying the voice of the Lord?

Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,

And to heed than the fat of rams.

For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft,

And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.

Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,

He also has rejected you from being king.1 Samuel 15:11,17-23 

God’s law has not passed away for it is holy and good! His law was passed by His divine authority and His wisdom.

John wrote of Jesus Christ the righteous,

He who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk just as He walked. 1John 2:6

Jesus walked in the light of love. God is love. He did not come to destroy the law but to fulfill the law’s demands. The law demands that we love.

If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well.” James 2:8

Jesus said,

 “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Matthew 5:17-18

Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:19 

Here are ways to love like God loves.

We believe God.

Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.  And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him. 1 John 4:15-16

We do not love the sin that is in the world

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever. I John 2:15-17

Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin. Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him. 1 John 3:4-6

We may fall into sin, but we do not stay in sin because we do not love sin. We should be against anything that would keep us from loving like God loves.

We do not love money.

 “No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other, you cannot serve God and mammon.”  Luke 16:13

We love our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Everyone who hates a brother or sister [fellow believer] is a murderer [because they have killed that person in their heart; Matt. 5:21–26], and you know that no murderers have eternal life [abiding; remaining] in them. This is how we know what real love is: Jesus [he] gave [laid down] his life for us [John 15:13]. So we should give [lay down] our lives for our brothers and sisters [fellow believers; John 15:12]. Suppose someone has enough to live [the world’s possessions/goods] and sees a brother or sister [fellow believer] in need, but does not help [closes off his heart/compassion from him]. Then God’s love is not living in that person [How does God’s love abide/remain in him?].  My children [2:1], we should love people not only with words and talk [in word and tongue], but by our actions and true caring [or by showing true love through our actions; in deed and truth]. 1 John 3:15-18 EXB

And keeping God’s commandments (believing on His Son, Jesus and loving one another) go hand in hand with our prayer lives. 

Continuing from the above verse…

And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him. For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God. And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.  And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment.

1 John 3:19-23

And Jesus helps us understand that the key to keeping God’s commandments begins in the heart. David’s heart was drawn away from God by lust.

One evening that David arose from his bed and walked on the roof of the king’s house. And from the roof he saw a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful to behold. So David sent and inquired about the woman. And someone said, “Is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” Then David sent messengers, and took her; and she came to him, and he lay with her, for she was cleansed from her impurity; and she returned to her house. And the woman conceived; so she sent and told David, and said, “I am with child.” 2 Samuel 11:2-5

We must always be on the lookout for anything or anyone that would pull us away from honoring and loving God in keeping His commandments. 

After Nathan illustrated the depravity of David’s sin to him,  David knew he had sinned against God!

David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. And Nathan said unto David, The Lord also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die. 2 Samuel 12:13

Jesus not only came to fulfill the law, he elaborated on it.

“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Matthew 5:27-28 

Jesus, Who had never sinned, and could have very well cast the first stone, did not. For he did not come to condemn the world, but to save the world. He told the woman caught in the act of adultery He did not come to condemn her, but He also told her, go and sin no more.

Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?” This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear.

(I wouldn’t be surprised if Jesus wasn’t writing the two greatest commandments of all on the ground that day)

So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?”

She said, “No one, Lord.”

And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.” John 8:4-10

Keeping God’s commandments is a blessing, not a burden.

Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. 1 John 5:1-4 

And love is the only way to obey God. 

Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not bear false witness,” “You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. Romans 13:8-10 

The love of God is brought to maturity in a believer who keeps God’s commandments.

Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him...He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him

1 John 2:3-5,10 

You see, our whole duty in this life is to love and honor God by keeping his commandments. 

In the beginning, Adam and Eve were banned from the tree of life because they broke God’s command.

In the end.

Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. Revelation 22:14

The following prayer is comprised of agape or love of God Scriptures found in the KJV of the Holy Bible.

Agape Prayer

I thank You Father that the same love that You love Jesus with lives in me because I believe. Jesus lives in me and Your love has been poured out in my heart by the Holy Spirit. If I let sin grow, Your love will grow cold in me. When I keep Your commands it shows that I love you because love believes and love honors. Faith and obedience to Your word is how I abide in Your love & fulfill the law. Without You, I am nothing. Nothing in this life compares to You! May I always yield to Your Spirit & walk in a way that edifies others! And may I always think of others before myself! Yielding to Your love will ensure that I don’t hurt others. When I yield to love’s commands, I will be patient & kind. I will be able to resist evils such as envy & pride. I will not dishonor others. I will not be self-seeking. I will not be angered easily. I will keep no record of wrongs. I will not delight in evil but I will rejoice in truth. I will never give up. Your love is greater than even faith & hope, because it is how they both work. Your love is what holds us all together. Your love is how we hold one another up. Your love is how we serve one another. Your love is what we are rooted & grounded in. Your love is so good for us. It is the Gospel. And it is my obedience to Your love that will show the world that I follow You. Love is how & why I speak truth in this world. It’s how Christ walked. It is how I am to walk. Your love is good judgment. It is comfort. It is perfect peace. Love is the very purpose of Your commandments in the first place! I will mature more & more in Your love as I keep Your commands. Your love covers a multitude of sins. It is not of this world. It is generosity with this world’s goods. It is good works shown toward Your Name. It’s how I see You, the invisible God, and how the world  will see You. It is fearless. You are my first true love Father, daily direct my heart into all the goodness of Your great love all the days of my life for the good of all! 

In the Name of Jesus. Amen