God Is Love

 

"And so we KNOW and RELY on the love God has for us.  GOD IS LOVE.  Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them." - 1 John 4:16

Our first date was actually in October of 1988.  However, I asked Marty Hill to the Start Baptist Church Student Ministry "Valentine's Banquet," which was held on February 14, 1989.  That night began this incredible journey for us.  We were married on August 14, 1992, and God has truly blessed us all along the way.  LOVE.  Love is not just a word that describes God.  Actually, God is the One who defines love.  In 1 John 4, John says in verse 8, "God is love."  He says it again in verse 16, "God is love."  And John tells us in verse 16 something very important.  He says, And so we KNOW and RELY on the love God has for us."  I can tell you that I don't deserve God's love, and I certainly have not earned it.  God's love for me is based on who He is and what He has done.  And I am so thankful for that truth!  I can also tell you that I don't deserve or haven't earned the love my wife shows me and gives me either.  I believe she KNOWS and RELIES on the love God has for her, and she is a funnel of God's love to me.  And I, too, KNOW and RELY on the love God has for me so that I can be a funnel of His love to her.  John says in 1 John 4:7, "Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God."  I am so thankful for my wife, for our children, for all of our family, our church, and our friends who show love and give love!  However, I am reminded in God's Word that true love comes from God because GOD IS LOVE.  It is the love of God that I treasure.  It is the love of God that allows me to love and to be loved.  I am thankful most for my Father, who first loved me and so love me that "He sent his one and only Son into the world that I might live through him" (1 John 4:9).  I am thankful to be this "jar of clay" containing this valuable "treasure" (2 Corinthians 4:7) that can be poured out in all of my earthly relationships.

Help me today, Father, to love you and to love others.  Help me not just to KNOW Your love but to RELY on Your love in all of my relationships.  Thank You, Father, for loving me and making me a vessel of Your love.  Amen!