Diary of a Christian Girl

Love like Christ †

The text: 1 John 4:9-12 "This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us."

The message: What is love? A question which caused philosophers to stumble for ages... This poses a question few are able to truly answer. According to dictionary.com, love is: "a feeling of warm personal attachment or deep affection" But is that what love truly is? According to John 15:13, "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." True love is willing to give his very life for his friends. Love is also defined in 1 Corinthians 13 (one of my favorite passages😊). The attributes of love are these: patient, kind, not envious, not boastful, not proud, not rude, not self-seeking, does not keep a record of wrongs, not delighting in evil, rejoicing in the truth, protective, trusting, hopeful, persevering, unfailing. But the problem is, as humans... We don't measure up to this standard of love. 1 John 4:9-12 says this, "This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us." We love because He first loved us with a full and complete, self-sacrificial love that we will never be able to understand or comprehend. Christ loves us with a perfect love; He is to be our model. We are to love one another like Christ loves us. ❥✝