Love: The Beginning
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We as Christians think we know all about love. Love seems to be so simple, but is actually very difficult to grasp. There are many kinds of love. Love of spouse, love of friends, love of money, love of family, love of pets! All of these are types of love, but we have our love priorities out of order.

• John 3:16New International Version (NIV)
• 16 For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Almost everyone, believer or not, knows this verse. But I believe the real love came from the beginning.

• Genesis 1:1New International Version (NIV)
• 1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

God loved us so much as to even bring the world into existence! Now that is LOVE! He loved us before we were even created! He took His time creating a world, a Universe, for us just because He loves us. You can’t get more love than that!

Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment was and replied in Matthew.

• Matthew 22:37-39 (NIV)
• 37 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.’”[a]

In Romans 13:9-10 we see that Paul repeats,
• Love your neighbor as yourself. Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

When Jesus died on the cross that day, He showed us the ultimate act of love. He laid down his life willfully, even out of joy the Bible says, to show us a pattern for us to live by.

So, how does that love apply to us today? Does He still love us that much, even though we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, as Romans 3:23 states?
God shows us what real love is in Romans 5:8

• Romans 5:8
• But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

So, if God loves us so much, how can we show our love to Him? In John 14:15 Jesus tells us:

• “If you love me, you will obey what I command.”
The best part is to show our love for Him, we just have to believe in Him. God IS love! There is no true love if God is not there. People of this world only know a physical type of love. They cannot truly love someone until they realize what Jesus did on the cross that day. That is why so many people get “love” confused with feelings of love. You can have feelings of love, but without God, you are incapable of truly loving.

Have you ever felt unloved? Does it seem like everything is falling down on you? If you have ever wanted someone to love you like you’ve never been loved before, then put your faith and trust in God and He will never leave you like people of this world will. You will experience peace, joy, and true happiness when you invite Him in your heart.
Prayer for salvation

Love: The Choice is Yours
God loves us so much that He gives us the CHOICE to love Him. He does not make us love Him. He wants us to love Him. He told me in my journal on 8-9-15:

“I gave you the decision to love Me out of My love for you. You mean so much to Me. I would not have done what I did (die on the cross) if I did not love you so much. My great sacrifice was for your great sacrifice. You sacrificed the life you could have lived, maybe more prosperous financially or easier, but you gave all that up when you laid your life down for Me. You chose to change and let Me take control.

Life without Me may look easier for a time, but without accepting My love, it all ends in death.

Joshua 24:15
But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve…But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”

This may be from the Old Testament, but it is as true now as it was then. You have the Choice to love God. He has already chosen to love you! That will never change. He lovingly made you. He knit you in your mother’s womb. He has a plan and destiny for your life. His love will never change.

It is hard for us to grasp this concept, and sometimes when we get close to understanding, the devil will try to sneak his way in and steal that new found joy we feel. We see in
• John 10:10 (KJV)
• 10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

He came to give us life and LOVE; and even that in abundance!!
He goes on to say in my journal:
“My love is not fickle like the world. My love is perfect and all consuming.”
John laid out a road map for us about how to love Him in 1 John 4:7-21. He showed that God loves us and He wants us to love others. Let’s read that. (Bible)

1 John 5:2-3 shows us again how we know we are to love God.

• 1 John 5:2-3 (NIV)
• 2 This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. 3 In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands…
We said this in our last broadcast, but it is so important that I wanted to repeat is again. These are some good questions to really ponder. Have you ever felt unloved? Does it seem like everything is falling down on you? If you have ever wanted someone to love you like you’ve never been loved before, then put your faith and trust in God and He will never leave you like people of this world will. You will experience peace, joy, and true happiness when you invite Him in your heart.

Prayer for salvation