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The Greatest Love Of All |
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Article by Tom Gilbert —
© livingthesolution.com
All You Need is Love. In the Name of
Love. What's Love Got To Do With It? These are all titles
of popular love songs. Love…it makes the world go round.
You've heard that before, too.
When we look at the world today it's sometimes hard to believe
that love has much of a place anymore. There's so much terror
and violence. And that breeds fear.
Love does conquer all. Even fear. It does exist. It will triumph
over the dark forces.
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What Is Love…Really?
The problem may not be so much a lack of
love but a misunderstanding of what love really is. The Bible
speaks of perfect love. We must understand it is more than affection,
more than sentimentality and certainly more than romantic attraction.
So often we mistake "feelings" for love.
Sometimes God is described as love. Let's explore this. The
Bible has a lot to say on this subject. Jesus particularly had
some heavy commentary. Greater love has no one than this…(John
15:13). Once again Jesus was teaching his disciples about His
purpose, His mission – to lay down His life as a sacrifice
for us. Read the passage in the context of surrounding verses
and you see that Jesus was giving us a commandment; to love
the same way He loves us. You can measure how great your love
for others is by whether or not you are willing to love to the
point of laying down your life for your friends.
If you have children you probably are familiar with that deep-seated
love that is so strong that at times you literally ache. A good
and loving parent would not hesitate to sacrifice their own
life to save their child's. If you feel that way, get in touch
with that feeling. Now you have inkling of how powerful God's
love, as expressed through Christ, is.
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Mercy (for) Me
God's great love for us is closely tied to
His tremendous merciful forgiveness. We have all sinned, over
and over again. Despite this, God never gives up on us! He went
to the ultimate length – gave His only son as a sacrifice.
He did this to enable us to be reconciled with Him. We fell
away and there was no way to get back on our own. So, while
we were still sinners Jesus Christ and God teamed up to bring
us home.
Obviously, God does not hold a grudge. We're not deserving of
this mercy. The grace is given to us anyway. God has forgiven
us. Not just forgiven, but removed our sins, our transgressions
from us!
Psalm 103
11For his unfailing love toward those
who fear him
is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth.
12 He has removed our rebellious acts as far away from us
as the east is from the west.
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You've heard that we are all made in the
image of God. Since this is so, that means we have the capacity
within us (as provided by Jesus when we receive Him and agree
to His Lordship over our lives) to love like God. I don't know
about you, but sometimes I find this hard to fathom. That doesn't
make it any less true. Oh, what an awesome God!
Dear Father, thank you so much for your love.
Thank you for your mercy and forgiveness. Teach us to be like
Jesus. Dwell within us and manifest your love through us.
May we obey you and not our own selfish desires. In Jesus'
name we pray. Amen.
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Scripture taken from the Holy
Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®.Copyright © 1973,
1978, 1984 International Bible Society. All rights reserved
throughout the world. Used by permission of International Bible
Society.
NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® and NIV® are registered trademarks
of International Bible Society. Use of either trademark for
the offering of goods or services requires the prior written
consent of International Bible Society.
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible,
New Living Translation, copyright ©1996. Used by permission
of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, IL 60189, USA. All
rights reserved.
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