<\/p>\n
The effect of God\u2019s love on us (believers) is God touching our hearts so we can reach out to people, see them, treat them, and relate with them as Jesus would. As such, we ought to be as compassionate (a deep-seated motivation) towards people just as Jesus Himself was; we have to pass on compassion to others just as we too have received because we all are recipients of compassion. The love of Christ constrains us \u2013 it fills our passion and motivates us. The reality is, the Father\u2019s love was never man\u2019s idea \u2013 it has always been God\u2019s original idea and as such, there\u2019s really nothing we can do about it except to respond to His love by loving others (the God way) as well. Actually, God created us just so He can shower us with His unconditional love, and being bona fide recipients of that love, it is only fair enough that we give back by showing the same love (and compassion) we\u2019ve received. Being kind and selfless towards people can only come from a genuine heart of love. Once we come to the understanding of the Father\u2019s love towards us, it becomes easy to show that same love to others in several different ways. The Father\u2019s love has brought us to a place of brokenness and service \u2013 serving people in the same way the Father serves us.<\/p>\n \u2022 Fear not. 1 John 4:18 – there is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear. <\/strong><\/p>\n Not even in death should we fear because where God\u2019s love is involved, fear cannot make its dwelling there. The only time fear abounds is when the love of God has not been made perfect. But we fear not because we\u2019ve been perfected in His love. Being afraid means we\u2019re uncertain about God\u2019s promises and we do not trust Him \u2013 that shouldn\u2019t be the life of a believer. \u2022 Forgiveness \u2013 holding no one\u2019s mistakes against them. Isaiah 43:25 says for His own sake, He will not remember our sins. Hebrews 8:12 says He will remember our sins and iniquities no more. <\/strong><\/p>\n If God has taken upon Himself to forgive us of all our sins and unrighteousness, we have no business holding the mistakes of others against them. God does not deal with us based on our past!<\/p>\n \u2022 Giving. John 3:16 says that for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son\u2026 <\/strong><\/p>\n God\u2019s love is the motivation for His giving and His giving is sacrificial. 1 John 3:16 says that we know (recognize) love because He laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. Therefore, giving is the primary proof of love and as such, no one can say he truly loves without giving. 1 John 3:18 says that we should not only love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. Our actions towards others proof that we love them. So God\u2019s motivation for giving is love, and our own greatest motivation for giving to God is love also \u2013 we give because we love Him. For God so love the world that He gave \u2013 for we so love the Lord that we give. The most valuable asset we can give that God truly deserves is ourselves. Money and material things are the least we can ever give God. When we do not have a good appreciation of the sacrifice of Christ, it makes our affection for God shallow. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\nGod is love and therefore, love is God! The Bible says that God is love and whoever loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God. (1 John 4:7-8) Knowing God entails loving one another, whether or not the love is reciprocated. And we also do not need to know people before we can love them. Just as we love God, we ought to love people unconditionally. 1 John 4:20 says that it is only a liar who claims to love God whom he has never seen and at the same time, doesn\u2019t love his brother he has seen. Verse 21 goes on to say that whoever loves God must love his brother also. Therefore, we don\u2019t struggle with loving people because once we get an understanding of how much God loves us, loving others becomes an easy thing to do. We will never partake in the fullness and entirety of God until we come to a complete understanding of His unconditional love for us.
\nThe very foundation of our lives should be our knowledge of God\u2019s love because the love of God gives us a glimpse into the nature of God. The Apostle Paul makes us understand in Ephesians 3:19 that we always have to define love from God\u2019s perspective, which is at all times the ultimate. As a result, we don\u2019t just know the love of God by book knowledge, we get to know the love of God by experience, by the way we live, interact, and relate with others and by so doing, we get continuous awareness that we are loved by God. Therefore, we grow in loving one another and as such, we are being made perfect in His love. We never should be afraid in life because we dwell in the perfect love of Christ. 1 John 4:18 helps us understand that there is absolutely no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear has involves torment. And the one who fears has not been made perfect in love. Fear means we have no confidence in His love. Therefore, we\u2019re perfected in love when we fear nothing in this life.
\nWe love Him because He first loved us – 1 John 4:19. Therefore, our love is only a response to His, and so we must never get away from the foundation that He loved us first. So I\u2019m not doing what I do to get God to love me; He already loved me and there\u2019s nothing either I or anyone else can do to change that love. As such, God\u2019s love for me is not based on my performance and my ministry (as a believer) flows out of my relationship with God, not based on my performance. God\u2019s love motivates us to love Him; and the way to love God is to keep His commandments, which is to obey His word \u2013 John 14:23. We must never be ashamed of the testimony of Jesus which is love, and part of being loved by God is knowing that you\u2019re in right standing with Him.
\nThe love of God in me is changing me and I am a reflection of Christ. Therefore the evidence of the love of God in a believer is seen in their pursuit of souls \u2013 in how passionate they are in seeing souls saved and coming to the knowledge of the truth of God\u2019s Word. That\u2019s the heart of God, and as believers, we need to have such a heart towards the people always. Dear believer, ensure that you do life with a heart (genuine love) for people \u2013 it is very important! So then, some ways in which the love of God influences the life of the believer include;
\n\u2022 Loving others unconditionally, regardless. (Mark 12:31 – love your neighbor as you love yourself; 1 John 4:19 – we love Him because He first loved us). <\/strong><\/p>\n
\n\u2022 Being selfless and kind. In Ephesians 4:32, Paul urges us to be kind, tenderhearted and forgiving towards one another. <\/strong><\/p>\n
\n\uf0d8 The only kind of fear permitted in our lives is the fear of the Lord. The fear of the Lord is to hate what God hates and to love what God loves. Even our faith cannot be executed without the fear of the Lord \u2013 therefore it prolongs our faith.<\/p>\n
\nIn a nutshell, we cannot at any given point in time afford to be love ignorant. Being ignorant of the Father\u2019s love could render ineffective our ability to receive answers to prayers; render our spiritual gifts and offices ineffective; weaken our ability to understand our position as sons of God; amongst others. We cannot compare the world\u2019s definition of love to ours. The world\u2019s definition of love is all about what you can do for them, not what they are committed to doing for you; but for us believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, we love unconditionally, whether or not we\u2019re loved right back. Our love is only a response to God\u2019s love because it was He who first loved us.
\nTHE MIRACLE OF LOVE IS THAT, LOVE IS GIVEN TO US TO GIVE TO ONE ANOTHER!<\/p>\n