No matter what country you are from, the culture you grew up in, the language you speak, or ethnicity you are, the concept of love is universal. We all seek love and we truly require love to live a healthy life physically, mentally, and also spiritually. But where does the deep heart of love come from and why do we all seek it?
When you come to understand the true meaning of love you are drawn directly back to God because God is love. I believe love alone is the proof that God is alive and real. There is nothing else that I can think of that all human beings can relate to, feel, seek, and understand than the true act of love.
God’s love is sacrificial and unconditional, this is what sets His love apart from the love of the world. The definition of love can describe as “an intense feeling of deep affection”. This is how God feels about us and because we were created in His image, we too seek this feeling of deep affection. But many times we come up short. We look for love in things, careers, relationships, and even just within our selves. I am not saying love cannot be felt by a spouse, relative, boyfriend, or even a pet, but the true heart of love is felt through your relationship with God.
The Heart of Love
What is Love?
“ Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” 1 John 4:7-8
We are all born into this world in need of love. Throughout our lives, God seeks after us offering His unconditional love but it isn’t until we turn towards Him that we obtain it. God made this possible by sending His one and only son into the world, Jesus, to die for our sins.
“ For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16
Not only does this love make it possible for us to spend eternity in Heaven with God it also allows us to enter into relationship with Him now. As we grow to know Him more and more, His love grows deeper within our hearts.
This love is available to anyone who will turn towards Him and is apart of His redemptive plan. Ever since the fall of man, God has eagerly been seeking out to restore what was once in the garden, to reside with man once again.
As we seek after Him and His Kingdom not only does the love of God flood our hearts, but allows us to reveal His kingdom here on earth.
How To Love
“ A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” John 13:34
Jesus displayed love for everyone by serving his Father, being kind, and putting others first. His character and acts can only be described as love. Jesus also commanded us to love one another just as he has shown us so that others will surely know that we are followers of Jesus. By putting others first, it breaks us from our selfish desires which produce sin. Love redirects our focus on God steering us in a completely different direction that sin takes us. It allows us the peel off the layers of who we believe we are, down to the original amazing person God has created us to be!
So how can we love one another as Jesus has taught us? We can do this by reflecting the love of Jesus to those we meet. By being willing to put others first especially those who are in need. Jesus made a point to find those who were greatly misdirected, sick, defeated, and in great need guidance. With the knowledge we have through God’s word and love we feel as Christians we should be seeking these same individuals in order to show them a light in the darkness and the true meaning of love.
It is important to remember that the only reason we are able to love is because he first loved us. And when we sincerely understand this connect with our creator we can learn to see others the way God sees them get out and actually serve with our whole hearts.
Why We Love
“ By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:35
The way we live our lives and the way we treat other people is our greatest testimony of God’s goodness. It’s by our love that the world will know we are Christians. In first John, we see that we shouldn’t love with words or speech but with action and in truth. This is love.
We were designed to have a relationship with God which began in the garden and stands true today. Through this relationship, we are able to have healthy thriving relationships with those we love in the world.
This love we display to friends, family, and strangers is proof we are Jesus’s disciples just by simply showing them love. This is so important because it allows others to see God through us, by seeing the good acts we perform they are not just seeing you but are seeing the goodness of God.
By allowing the love of God to overflow from within us it has the power to change the lives of everyone we come in contact with. This can create a domino effect and has the ability to bring more individuals to Christ that we could imagine!
Love is the most powerful force we will experience on earth because it is not of this world. The truth of love defines who we are and has the ability to change lives now until eternity! We encourage you to share your testimony with others and spread the love you have for God to as many as you can. By doing this you are not only being a light for the kingdom but truly changing the world around you.
Nick Lincoln
Hey Friends! I am Nick Lincoln a co-founder here at Abide and Seek. Besides writing articles to spread the light of Jesus throughout the world, I also enjoy playing music, working out, and spending quality time with my family and friends! My prayer is that by sharing my experiences and the struggles I have faced before coming to Christ, the world can see the life-changing power of a life lived in the light of Jesus Christ!