Where Does Love Come From?预览

Where does love come from?

Some have said that love somehow originates from itself. That love is, in fact, love. The thought somehow assumes that love exists outside of time in some circular, self-sufficient, endless loop. And that somehow, human effort can manufacture and sustain love. But the great tragedy of this lie is that God is effectively removed from the equation.

For the apprentice of Jesus, it is foundational to understand the truth about where love comes from. 1 John 4:7, definitively answers this question: "love comes from God." A few verses later, John furthers this truth: "and we have come to know and believe the love that God has for us. God is love; whoever abides in love abides in God, and God in him" (1 John 4:16).

When this truth that God is love begins to take root in our soul, we can rest in the idea that any love we have seen, felt, or experienced ultimately originated from God because God is love.

God's love is perfect. Unconditional. He loves without limits. His love isn't bound by time or circumstance. And, mercifully, it isn't dependent on our behavior.

Sadly, our human experience of love often feels more like a contract - a series of agreements and conditions that each person must abide by to be worthy of receiving our love. Often unconsciously, we keep a scorecard of right and wrong, holding each other prisoner to our past shortcomings.

In contrast, God's love isn't a contract; His love is a covenant. He made a covenant with Noah never again to flood the whole earth (Genesis 9). A few chapters later, God calls Abram and his descendants into a covenantal relationship, promising them a new land to inhabit (Genesis 15). Again and again, throughout the Old Testament, God reminds His people of His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And finally, at just the right moment in time, the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus would usher in a new covenant.

As you go, take a few minutes to meditate on the idea that God is love. Rest in the truth that He loves you unconditionally and longs to have a covenantal relationship with you made possible by the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. And, finally, take comfort that He is relentlessly calling out to you to come into His presence just as you are.