Worship Wednesday
He Is… LOVE
“We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.” I John 4:16
I’d like to begin today’s post with a reminder about the origin of this writing series. At the start of COVID-19 hunker down, churches were scrambling to assemble a plan for how to best serve our church body, and the community outside that church body. As a worship leader, my role to create an atmosphere of worship during our Sunday morning services completely changed overnight. No band. No gathering of Believers to sing praises to the Most High. No sanctuary space available for solitude, a safe place to pour out your heart to your heavenly Father. How would our congregation worship by their own initiative? The explanation of scripturally-directed worship has always been one I’ve felt to be misunderstood. It is often misconstrued that “worship” is what takes place on a Sunday morning when the band plays beautiful music and people raise their hands. While this is one expression of worship, it is not the expression of worship.
The desire to help others understand a scripturally sound explanation of worshipping God, led me to write this blog, along with its appropriate theme - He Is… When we understand who God is, we are compelled to take on a posture of worship. When we know Him, we trust Him, and therefore worship Him with our life. (Rom 12:1) Why am I reminding you of all this today? It is incredibly vital to the spiritual health of our hearts that we are able to fix our eyes on WHO JESUS IS right now. The high profile distractions currently at play in our country are not merely a creation of mankind. And I’d like to confidently address the truth behind the real enemy at work here, which is Satan. He is the father of lies, and he is the opposite of love. And if we want to combat the war happening in our country, in our world, we need to identify who the real enemy is and go to battle with prayer and love. Scripture tells us that God is love. And if we live in love, then He lives in us. THAT sounds like the vaccine we are in desperate need of.
“Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins.” I Peter 4:8
Am I the only one who struggles with this scripture? That can’t possibly be true! It is tough to love certain people. But we are clearly directed to do so in scripture. In fact, Paul calls us out on it:
“Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other.” Rom 12:9-10
It is challenging to genuinely love others when we don’t have a clear understanding about why and how to love each other. Let’s start with the “why”:
“We love each other because he loved us first.” I John 4:18-19
The world’s standard says love someone because they earned our respect, showed kindness to us once, share similar views with us, etc. But according to this scripture, the reason we love others is because God loved us first. It has nothing to do with what one deserves. Now, the “how”:
“Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them. Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all! Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.” Romans 12:14-18
This can be incredibly challenging, and may even feel unobtainable at times. But it is God’s expectation of us. How do we achieve such a high standard of love? Well, it’s kind of similar to how God expects us to be holy. We are able to be holy because He is holy and He lives in us, and therefore makes us holy. Loving others works the same way. We are able to love others because He is love and He lives in us, and therefore brings His love to full expression in us.
“No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us.” I John 4:12
At the top of the page, I John 4:16 says “we have put our trust in His love”. These words made me think of my son. Conagher has to trust that my love for him means I have his absolute best interest in mind. We trust God’s love for us in the same way. The words “God lives in them” also stood out to me. It made me think, “I hope that people who encounter me experience Jesus because He lives in me.” THAT is a serious and weighty aspiration. But that actually is our calling as Christians. He has called us to live in love, to live in Him, because He Is… LOVE.
