“1 See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. 3 All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.

4 Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. 5 But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. 6 No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.

7 Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. 8 The one who does what is sinful is of the devil,because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of Godappeared was to destroy the devil’s work. 9 No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God. 10 This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister.”

1 John 3:1-10
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Love is so much a part of who we are in Christ. It is an undeniable facet in the jewel-cut gem that is our faith. It is the lens that we focus our efforts through, it is the filter that guards and guides our conversation, it is the glue that binds us all together. It is also remarkable, because it is no flawed, human love, but the love of God at work in us that we experience. It is His perfect love, a love that reaches, heals and serves. It is a love that comes form authority, majesty and power. It is a love that moves gravestones away, and a love that kept our suffering Savior, Jesus on the cross, bearing our sins. It is the love that forgives, renews and restores. It is a love that melts stone hearts and refines us deep within. It is in this love that we live and act and speak, and it is this love that reaches others for the sake of Christ.

If anyone is ever reached in the Name of Christ, it is in the power of Christ that anything comes of it. Human effort, human love, falls short, infinitely short, and it must be Him at work in us to accomplish the work of His love. It is in our obedience to Him that our love is returned, an obedience of thanksgiving, an obedience born in His love for us. Again, we are incapable on our own to love Him back properly, but He extends us this grace, that we would be called His children, and able to love Him as we should. Sin is born in rebellion, pride and selfishness. Love is born from appreciation, thanksgiving and submission. Love that places self above others is a faulty love, failing to reach what it could, and again, sin results.

Loving well, both God and others, is a fruit of righteousness. It is a gift to the giver and the one receiving it. It sculpts a heart that is attractive, because it mirrors the heart of Christ. If we are to GoLove as Christ exampled, and as God intends, we must listen to the Holy Spirit at work in us who have died to self and been baptized into Christ. It is His voice that speaks love daily into our hearts, and His voice that brings compassion, mercy and patience to the forefront of our minds. He guides our speech in love, our hearts and hands in love and points our goals and desires toward the love that the Father first provided to us in Christ.

It’s a beautiful thing, to love, and an even more beautiful thing to liven His great love.