“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.”- 1 John 4:7
In Chapter 5 (“Is Love God or Is God Love?”) of How’s Your Soul?, Judah Smith states that our souls yearn, search, and long for love. Therefore, Pastor Smith takes a look at what he believes is the key to understanding and experiencing love. The key to experiencing love focuses on:
- the realization that God is love
- knowing, believing, and living in the love of God
- experiencing God’s love for us on a soul level
- learning to love as God loves
Just as our souls need hope and stability, our souls fundamentally desire love. Furthermore, ultimately our souls don’t have a home without love. Unfortunately, Christians haven’t always represented God’s love to humanity. Partly as a result of those misrepresentations, many people opt to disassociate human from divine love. However, a “love is God” philosophy = an inherently disconnected philosophy. As a result, Judah states, “when you replace a person with a concept, whoever defines that concept has ultimate authority.”
Removing human love from divine love leaves one with lawlessness. Hence, God must define love. Judah explains:
“God wants us to flourish. He wants us to enjoy our lives — and he wants those around us to enjoy theirs as well. That is why it is imperative that we not just understand how paramount love is but also define it in a heathy, God-inspired manner.”
Today’s question: Following your ministry downsizing or vocation loss, how have others witnessed “love is from God” to you? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: He (or she) didn’t mean it”
