Lighthouse scribes

‘…for love comes from God.’ I still think that the easiest way to learn anything is by composing it into a song. Memories may fade but the lyrics of songs hardly ever leave us. Even if they’ve not been sung for decades they come back fresh when they are remembered.

1 John 1:7 & 8 is one I’d never forget from the famous Psalty Kids Praise. It’s surprising that February is dubbed the month of love but we celebrate every kind of love, save for the Father’s love, agape. I suppose we save that for Christmas and Easter, flowing with the season.

Agape; the love of the Father for the son and for all creation. The love that Christians are to have for God (Matthew 22:37) and for others (John 15:12) including enemies (Matthew 5:43-44, if in doubt, check your concordance). It’s love that is free from bias and not based on familiarity. Love that accommodates the worst and most undesirable. It’s not foolish or destructive, but sees people with a different lens; the lens with which God saw humanity when he sent Jesus to save us. Amazingly, it doesn’t come to us naturally, and like faith, it can’t be self-inspired. Agape comes from God, because He is love.

God didn’t create us to be listless. In our wiring, or formation, is an inherent desire to seek God, even when we don’t know that it’s Him we’re after (Acts 17:27). Of course in our journey through life, we will have other desires. Adam desired a companion, and it was a good thing and in line with God’s will. Eve desired to ‘be like God’. Only if she knew that she was already made in God’s image and likeness. God made us ‘desiring’ creatures who are seeking something that we can sacrifice everything for. This is why no one is truly satisfied until they’ve found God. People lose their will to live when they stop having desires, and remain restless until they have found God and purpose in God.

Love comes from God. This is inspiring and comforting because love can be hard. We suppose that love is easy because if it’s sitting nicely in a category with boundaries like storge or philia we can define the expectations and ceteris paribus, it is easy as long as expectations are met. I’m reminded of many occurrences when I’ve surrendered people that hurt me to God. Luke 6:27-28 is truly the antidote to bitterness. You think God is asking you to do a hard thing but what He’s really asking you to do is to let Him take the poison out of you. Sometimes, when we think we’ve let go, what has really happened is that we’ve moved into a VIP cell. Unless we let Love, we’re never really unbound. Love frees. God’s love sets free.

We say we love God, but do we? Is it agape? Is it in the same sense that He loves us? Does the way we live, daily show agape to God and others? I often have to ask myself these questions, too. But, I’m glad that love is not hard when we drink from the right fountain. Thank God that love comes from God so we don’t have to strive. We can ask God to help us, and to put His love in our hearts so that we desire Him more and love others, too, even if they are despicable.

Love,

Osi