Love: The Father's Love

Love is in the air. 💕

 It’s the season of love and we will spend a couple of weeks dwelling on love. Love is perhaps the most fascinating word in human history. Every great story is given a love angle, the movies that last longest in our memories are centered around love. From a tender age, we are inundated with ‘Happily ever after’, ‘knights in shining armour’ stories. Majority spend most of their lives in search of love. So then, what is love? The answer is not that straight forward as there are four variants of the word. The first kind of love is the Eros which is the emotional love, it is what most mean when they say ‘I love you’. It is purely based on feelings and could be selfish and unstable. The second kind is the Phileo love, which is the love that exists between family members. It is the natural affection one feels towards a sibling or a child.  The third kind is the Philadelphia, which is the love that exists between friends, it is called the brotherly love. It is very close to the Phileo and is sometimes used interchangeably. The fourth and final kind of love is the Agape love. This is the God-kind of love, it is the unconditional commitment to doing good and is not dependent on the recipient’s actions.

Every love story and movie seeks to portray this love. But they often fall short because there is only one that can perfectly model the agape love and guess what? He is in love with you. God is love and He loves you unconditionally and is committed to do you good. He is constantly thinking of you. Hear what the scriptures says ‘For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’ The popular scriptural verse in John 3:16 would still be true if it reads thus; ‘For God so loved me, that He gave His only begotten Son, …’. God went the extra mile for you by giving his only son that you might be with Him. If He did not spare His own son for you, there is nothing else He cannot give you, if you will only respond to His love.

‘How can God love me with my lifestyle?’ someone may ask. In Romans 5:8, ‘But God has shown us how much He loves us---it was while we were still sinners that Christ died for us!’ (GNT) we see that God did extend His love towards us in our sinful nature. Even your shortcomings are not enough to separate you from His love. Also, situations and circumstances are neither proof of God’s love nor can they remove us from His love. Consider this, scripture ‘And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from his love. Death can't, and life can't. The angels can't, and the demons can't. Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow, and even the powers of hell can't keep God's love away. Whether we are high above the sky or in the deepest ocean, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.’(Rom 8:38-39 NLT). Nothing means nothing.

One of the greatest examples of God’s love is recorded in Luke 15 as narrated by Jesus, it is the parable we call the ‘parable of the Prodigal Son’. The second son demanded for his inheritance and wasted it in a foreign land. Thereafter he summoned courage to go back to his father to ask for forgiveness and be hired as a servant, verse 20 describes the reaction of the father: "So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long distance away, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him.”(NLT). Whereas the father could have seen the son and be angered by him (justifiably so) or even convince himself to only forgive him if he is truly sorry, yet what we saw was a father running to the son to welcome and restore him with so much love in his heart and without conditions. Notice also that the father saw him ‘a long distance away’ which could only have meant that the father had been eagerly anticipating his return.

Regardless of the picture of God people might have painted to you (and yes, we will discuss the person of God the next time out), regardless of who might have betrayed your love or disappointed you, regardless of who else loves you; please be assured of God’s love for you.

God loves you passionately.

If you have not made Jesus Christ your Lord and saviour, you cannot benefit fully from His love. We urge you, don’t wait another moment. Make up your mind and say this prayer:

“Dear God, I ask you to forgive me all my sins and make me anew. I believe that Jesus died for me and you raised him up on the third day, I confess that He is Lord now and forever. I accept your son, Jesus Christ as my Lord and Saviour.”

Congratulations! Now that you are born again, look for a bible believing church to attend that you might know what he has provided for you.