[Maximum Joy Series] Perfect LoveSample

Tear Down the Wall–Love Perceived

It was Dionne Warwick who sang that beautiful song, “What the world needs now, is love, sweet love, it’s the only thing there is just too little of.” And thirty years later, I don’t think anything has changed. In this war-torn world of terrorism and fear, a little love would go a long way. And it is not just the world and the nations that need love. We individuals need love as well. We all crave the kind of connection that allows you to open up and without the risk of rejection.

The fear of rejection makes us raise walls of self-protection, which keeps us from talking to each other on an intimate level. Instead, we respond with anger when real feelings are hurt, we change the subject when the conversation begins to be threatening, or we keep ourselves so busy with work, social engagements, entertainment, church activities, or endless chatter that no deep sharing is possible. 

Is there a way to break through these walls? Can that be done? Can the Bible help? I think so, and that’s what 1 John 4:13-19 is all about. We are talking about perfect love!

“By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him” (4:13-16). 

Agape love is a fruit of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:21). A brand-new Christian can enjoy and share this kind of love. But agape love can also “grow up.” It can mature. It can be perfected. Now the question is, “How do you perceive love?”

Divine love may begin with a good intention in the womb of our spirit, but at this point it is only an embryo of love. For this love to be fully developed, it must be born into the world of our deeds, our actions. Properly nurtured and exercised, love becomes full-grown, mature, visible—everyone can see and perceive it. 

This kind of love needs external expression to become mature. That’s why Jesus said He gives his disciples a new commandment to “love one another as I have loved you.” That commandment is like a golden parrot hopping from branch to branch in this book, repeating itself over and over. Jesus says when we learn to love each other this way, then the whole world will know that we are His disciples (His fully-devoted followers). This is mature, perfect love. 

When we see this kind of love demonstrated in our midst, we can know with certainty that God abides in us. That’s when we sense God’s love. When we observe sacrificial love in the community of believers, John seems to be saying that we have a reincarnation of the Father’s love which was perfect love, a love that sent His only begotten Son into the world to save the world through His own sacrificial love on the cross. Thanks to this fresh vision of Christ on the cross, and God’s perfect love for me, I am able to enter into a sacrificial love for my brothers. Tear down the walls of self-protection and love as He loved us—sacrificially. “By this, everyone will know that you are my disciples if you love one another.”