Part 1 – Love God
2 Timothy 1:7
Several years ago in a number one song, pop star Tina Turner asked the provoking question, “What’s love got to do with it?” The answer – Pretty much everything! That’s the reply Jesus gave a probing lawyer who tested him in a similar way many years ago. “What’s the greatest commandment?” the Pharisee asked. It seemed like a hard question. God had given the Jewish people hundreds of directives, commandments, and instructions. Out of so many, who could say which was the most important?
Jesus didn’t hesitate in his answer. “Jesus replied, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.’” (Matthew 22:37-39) Jesus knew what his antagonists had not yet learned – Life is all about relationships. Love God. Love others. Love has a lot “to do with it”!
So what is this thing called love? We each have our own definition. So goes God. 1 John 3:16 says, “This is how we know what love is: Jesus gave up his life for us. And we should give up our lives for our brothers and sisters.” In a word, love is sacrifice. Love is giving instead of getting. It’s choosing others over ourselves. It’s easier said than done.
No wonder Timothy might have seemed a bit hesitant about going all out for God! Jesus has said that people will know we are Christians by our love. He says we should love God completely and others unselfishly. No small task any way you cut it! I can see why Timothy was timid! I am! All of which makes Paul’s words even more comforting and encouraging. “God has not given us a spirit of fear but a spirit of power and of love and of a sound mind.” God says, “Be strong! Be loving! Be focused!” and then He turns right around and fills us up with His power, His passion, and His purpose!
I don’t think Tina Turner meant to be a great theologian, but in the chorus of the song as she cynically inquires, “What’s love but a second-hand emotion?” she hits upon a great truth. True love is second-hand. It first belonged to someone else. It belonged to God. John was Jesus’ close friend. He loved Jesus and Jesus loved him. John is called “The disciple whom Jesus loved.” Listen to what he says about second-hand love. “Love comes from God. We love because He first loved us.” (1 John 4:7 &19) I don’t know about you, but that is huge for me. I don’t have to come up with all this love on my own. I can’t love like I should on my own. And God didn’t leave me on my own. He loved me. He chose me. He made His. And He fills me up with His love. I just need to let that love grow and to let that love show.
How? Honestly, the best way for love to grow and for love to show is to know! Get to know God and get to know others. Many an arrogant lad has tried to woo a doubtful dame with the promise, “To know me is to love me!” We laugh and think, “If he has to tell her, it’s probably not true!” But it is true with God. To know Him is to love Him. As we know Him better, we love Him more deeply and show others His love more freely.
Sometime in your life, you might have fallen in love at first sight, but we all know that it takes many days together to truly love. You must know someone well before you can love them well! I’m not sure my daughters quite understand this yet, but one afternoon a few years ago as we were coming home from school, my then eight year old Rachel asked me who I thought she would marry. Not wanting to give any room for the possibly of dating during the next decade, I told her that I had no idea who she would marry but I was certain it would be someone she met after she finished high school and moved away to college (and probably even later than that!) I said, “You don’t even know the guy you’re going to marry yet!” I didn’t give our conversation much more thought until a few days later I overheard by six year old tell my five year old, “Mommy said you marry somebody you don’t even know!” (There’s more truth to that than she knows! )
It’s the same way with God. We began this relationship knowing about Him but not knowing Him. How incredible it is that the longer we know Him, the better we can know Him. We get to know God the same way we get to know anyone else. We spend time with Him. We talk with Him. We listen to Him. God helps us know Him better in two words – through words and through works.
We know God better through words by listening to what He says in the Bible and by speaking to Him in prayer. Communication is the key to any good relationship. Ours with God is no exception. Talk with Him continually. Listen to Him consistently.
We also know God through the works He has made – all of creation – and through the ways that He works in our lives and in the lives of others. Take time to be awed and amazed at the detail and design of the next butterfly that flits past. Consider the ability and agility of your own hand as you reach for the salt shaker. Think about the circumstances and situations of your life during the past three months. How has God helped you? Guided you? Held you? How do you know Him better now than you did before? Every few days write down how you know God has worked in your life. At the end of each month read over your “Know Notes” and thank God for who He is and what He has done!
So what does love have to do with it? Everything. Life is all about love. Real life is anchored in a love relationship with God. The more we know Him, the more we’ll love Him. The more we love Him, the more we can show and share true love with others. And the better life will be.
Maybe one day Tina will sing a song about that kind of love!
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