It’s day ten of Lent and the word prompt is LOVE.
It reminded me of the verse that talks about keeping ourselves in the love of God, probably because I’m trying to memorise it at the moment. But it got me thinking. How do I keep myself in the love of God?
It’s rather like abiding in Christ. Sounds great. But how does it happen and what does it look like?
What is love?
When I was struggling with this a while ago, I asked Adi, ‘How do you know that I love you?’
‘Well, you tell me,’ he said, ‘You’re interested in how my day has gone. You go out of your way to do nice things for me. You’re supportive when things go wrong and I’m feeling rubbish.’
Love is words and actions.
Understanding what love looks like between Adi and me helped me begin to grasp what God’s love looks like.
At the heart of it, God’s love looks like Jesus dying for His enemies so that He could invite them to be His friends. Not that God is sad and needs us. But the Father’s heart blazes with love for the Son, whose love overflows for the Spirit, who utterly adores the Father. It was out of an overflow of red-hot, blazing love that caused God to go so such extraordinary lengths to invite me into His family.
I was nothing and He gave me worth. The Most High calls me friend.
He has given me a new heart and is growing in me love and compassion. The outworking of that is that I’ve begun to see people as He sees them. A homeless man is someone’s son. A prostitute is someone’s daughter. We are human and we have worth. Love raises up.
God gives me security.
So how do I keep myself in God’s love?
I like the way this version puts it:
But you, dear friends, must build each other up in your most holy faith,
pray in the Holy Spirit,
and await the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will bring you eternal life.
In this way, you will keep yourselves safe in God’s love.