The Father loves you perfectly. He is not only a God who loves, but so much more than that. God is love. His very nature is love. He loves because he is filled with love. You cannot earn His love but only accept or reject it, for there is no in-between.
God loved you even when you were His enemy, and He still loves you even in your failures. “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8 NKJV).
The greatest expression of the Father’s love for you was in sending His precious Son Jesus to die for your sins. His love for you began before you were born and extends into all of eternity. His love for you is perfect and without flaw or failure. God’s love for you cannot fail.
The foundation of our faith is not in how we feel towards God, but how God feels towards us. Jesus taught us, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16 NKJV).
We cannot wrap our arms around the breadth of His love nor ever reach the end of it. We cannot begin to understand God unless we first begin to understand love. To know God is to know love. And true love originates and is perfect in our heavenly Father. If God is in you, then love is in you.
To the degree you are not loving towards others, God is not in your life. “Beloved friends, let us love one another; because love is from God; and everyone who loves has God as his Father and knows God” (1 John 4:7 CJB).
You cannot be filled with the Spirit of God and not be filled with His love. By the same measure, you cannot be filled with His love and not be filled with His Spirit. Where there is perfect love, there is the Father. Perfect love within you will result in His perfect love through you.
The evidence of God’s love in us, is God’s love through us. “He who does not love does not know God, for God is love” (1 John 4:8 NKJV).
The test of our communion with God is the measure of His love that dwells in us. Others will see that we are of God when the love of God is revealed through us. The only way we can teach the world about the love of God is to love them with the power of His love through us.
If you want to preach the love of Christ to the lost, you must prove it by loving them. “For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another” (1 John 3:11 NKJV).
The greatest commandments of our loving Father are that His children would also be loving. When we love the Father, we will love His children. When we love His children, we are expressing love to our Father. When we are loving to each other, we will all be blessed in the outcome.
Our success for the kingdom is not measured by how much we have gathered, but how much we have poured out. “God is always fair. He will remember how you helped his people in the past and how you are still helping them. You belong to God, and he won’t forget the love you have shown his people.” (Hebrews 6:10 CEV).
If you want to grow in your faith, grow in your love towards others. You cannot grow closer to God while refusing to be loving to His children. It is more important to your faith that you love people than you learn another doctrine or gain another title. Love is greater than all the gifts put together.
It is not enough that we learn about the love of God, but we must live it. “The message that you have heard from the beginning is to love each other.” (1 John 3:11 NOG).
You are to love your neighbor. Your husband or wife is your neighbor. Your parents, children, and grandchildren are your neighbors. Workmates, store clerks, city workers, homeless, people like you, people unlike you, people with opposing views – these are all your neighbors.
It is to the shame of Christianity that there is sometimes more mercy to the broken and lost outside the Church than there is within. “If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself,’ you do well” (James 2:8 NKJV).
You won’t be rewarded in heaven by what you know or how high your title is, but who you loved. Your net worth in the kingdom is the measure you love others. Loving others never costs you a thing but is priceless to them. The more love you pour out, the more full your heart will be.
The proof of our faith is revealed in how we treat those around us. Jesus taught, “Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” (John 13:35 NLT).
Blessings to you,
Paul Balius
Amazingly beautiful, encouraging and filled with the hope that keeps us going.