In our current culture, we can say that we “love” everything. What are some things that you love? I love McDonalds’ French fries when they’re hot and salty with a cold refreshing Coke. I love wearing a new pair of shoes. I love camping. There are many things that I say that I love, but there are actually very few things I truly love when, for example, the fries go cold and limp, the Coke goes flat, the shoes are overcome with unrepairable holes or scuffs, and there are spiders, scorpions, and ticks in a camping tent during a downpour.
These examples of the current use of the word love are false examples. A more appropriate word for them would be that I enjoy these things. Enjoyment is a positive experience that is felt momentarily and conditionally. All of the items are said to be “loved” until they are not enjoyable anymore, and then all love is withdrawn. Real love, on the other hand, is an unselfish choice for the highest good of God and His kingdom (including you and me).
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that whosoever believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16)… This means that love in its truest form is to be unconditional and unselfish.
When I married my husband, it was one of the most wonderful days of my life. We made promises to one another to remain faithful to one another no matter the condition of our lives.. Then we ate delicious things and danced the night away. All of our friends and family were in the same place at the same time, celebrating with us. It was the best party I have ever been to.
There is a song that has been dear to my heart for many years by an artist I love named Sara Groves. She sings, “Better than the promises, are the days we got to keep them…” This verse says it all. There is much beauty when a man and a woman bind their lives to one another through vowing before God and witnesses to love one another in sickness and health, for richer and poorer, for better and worse, etc. Sara’s song says that even better than these promises is the day the promises are kept. When the difficult days knock at the door and the choice to love is made. This is love. It is not a feeling primarily, but a choice.
God, who is love (1 John 4:8), has chosen to bind Himself to us. He could have left the world to itself when He saw that mankind had rebelled against Him, but He didn’t. Instead, Jesus came into the world as a man, to live for God and die for the whole world to be reconciled to His heart. True love says “I will fight for you.” This is the deepest desire of the world that we see in great works of art, film, writings, and other forms of mankind’s creative outlets. Everyone desires to be seen, and to be rescued. That is exactly what God did for us and has never stopped doing.
We are commanded to LOVE God…. And to LOVE our neighbors as ourselves. As much as we are committed to our own highest good, we are to love our neighbors this way.
Jesus so loved the entire world that he bound Himself to us. He also promises to never leave nor forsake us.
Practical Challenge:
Make a list of the things you have chosen to bind yourself to. This could be a relationship or dream of one, an expectation, a career, an accomplishment, a physical item, etc. Hold that list before God and ask Him to reveal anything on the list that takes a higher place than your commitment to Him. Then repent and share this with your small group leader.