God's Love Through Others

1 John 4:7, 19
Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.

Love must be sincere.

Romans 12:9
Love must be sincere.

The second way we can really come to know the love of Christ is through those around us. Think about those people that you spend time with, those Christian men and women who just magnify the love of God – in the way they speak, they way they talk, in the way they help, serve others, and pray - in the way they love. So many times it seems these heroes of the faith blend in, because they are not in it for the glory, they are in it for the love of it all.

These are the people who love you even after you’ve told them your deepest, darkest secrets. They love you on the days when you’re in a bad mood, and being mean and ugly. What you see in them is the love of God. When we meet people who love God intimately, they are overflowing with His love. And when see and experience their love, we come to know God’s love in a deeper, more intimate way.

A word of caution – we cannot expect these godly people to fill our cups for us. They are not capable of giving to us the love we need to be full. Nor are we designed to receive our fill of what we need from others. We must go to God and Him alone. He is the only One with the "gas" we need to keep running each day. I am simply suggesting that you can experience God’s love and really get to know it through the love He displays in those around us.

How often are we drawn to those people who are just radiant with the love of God, especially in times when God feels distant? Could it be that we are so thirsty for God that any taste of His refreshing, life-giving, luscious love is what we desire? And so we spend time with these people, hoping to get a splash here or there – feeding off their over-flow, when what we really need to do is go right to the Source, and have our cups completely filled, instead of just whetting our lips.

Then, not only can we experience the love of God from those around us, but those around us can experience His love through us as well. God knows that in order for us to love each other sincerely, as Romans 12 tells us, we need a complete heart change. No, just going through the actions does not count, although, that can help get us to a place where we can love sincerely.

To love others, even (and especially) those that we find difficult to love, is a command, and we need to take it seriously as people who really desire to obey and please God. This forces us to go to Him daily for an overflowing dose of His lavish love, so that it can then spill over from our lives into the lives of others. This is how He changes our hearts, by daily filling us and cleansing us with His perfect love, spilled out for us on the cross.

The love is of God, not us – we are only involved in that we must choose to receive and exercise God’s love daily, rather than our own, faulty love.

May we each start living lives that allow those around us (both Christian and non-Christian) to see and experience the lavish love of God. Let’s start today by letting God fill our cups so full that we’re spilling love all over the place.