Reflections
We love him, because he first loved us. If a man say, I love God, and hates his brother, he is a liar. (I John 4:19-20)
We do not make ourselves disciples – “a taught one” – by loving others. Rather, if we are a disciples – i.e., someone who has learned Jesus Christ – we are going to want to love others. We will love others because we have first received the love that God has for us. There is no other way we can love others. We can only give that which we have first received from God.
The love of God is redemptive in nature. It is a commitment to God’s highest for all. It is not emotional. It is not a matter of making people feel good about themselves. AGAPE is an unconditional commitment to them for God’s highest — no matter what it takes. I am available to God on their behalf — even if that means that I do nothing but pray.
The very nature of receiving the love of God is that we will desire that others likewise receive His love, grace, and Truth. If God desires all men to be saved and come into the knowledge of the Truth (I Tim. 2:4), then His love in US will desire the same.
The love of God is redemptive in nature. But it is never a compromise with the Truth. It is a commitment to God’s highest for all — that Jesus Christ might be known and revealed.