Meditations on the Meaning of ChristmasShembull

Love Goes Out: Part 1

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” (John 14:15)

We have been considering the term “perfected love” and have defined it this way, perfected love is love that comes down, goes up, and goes out.

God’s love comes down to us in Jesus Christ, and as we truly receive His love, and experience His love, we are transformed by His love, into people who love God, and love others.

Perfected love begins with the love of God coming down at Christmas.

Consider again what Jesus says about this love in John chapters 15 and 17…

“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you.” (John 15:9)

“…that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.” (John 17:23)

Now let’s honestly ask ourselves, do I really believe that God loves me this much? Do I really believe that God loves me the way that God loves God?

If we ever struggle to believe that God really loves us that much (and we all can), we need no further proof than the cross where the love of God was displayed.

“In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” (1 John 4:10)

This is God’s love for you, the Father has sent His Son to bear the wrath of God in your place so that you would not perish but have eternal life and satisfaction in Him!

This is the greatest news in the world. This is the greatest love in the universe!

The more that you and I truly experience this great love through prayer and by meditating on the Word of God (especially the gospel), the more we will also experience love for God!

Those who are forgiven much, love much, because when love comes down and is experienced, love always goes up! But of course, love doesn’t end there. Because when love comes down and goes up, it also goes out!

Jesus makes this truth clear for us in these two statements, first “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” (John 14:15), and then “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” (John 15:12)

In other words, if we truly love Jesus, we will love others. Or we can think of it this way, if we do the most important thing (which is to love God), then we will also do the second most important thing (which is to love others)!

“And he said to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Matthew 22:37-39)

The more we truly experience the love of God, the more we will love God and the more we will love others. This is perfected love.

So, what does it suggest about our hearts when we lack love toward people? It suggests that the love of God is not currently being experienced in our hearts as it ought to be, because when love comes down and is truly experienced, it goes up and goes out.

The apostle John put it this way, “We love because He first loved us. If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.” (1 John 4:19-20)

Reflect

• Am I experiencing the love of God?
• Am I filled with love for God?
• Am I known for loving people?
• What needs to change?