God's Love, Our Love

Last week I wrote a blog on the 5 Tests of True Love. I made the point that true love is only possible through a right relationship with God. Once we enter a right relationship with God through the work and person of Jesus we actually have God’s love that we then can share with others. When we allow God's love to pass through us to other people, that is actually a test of our relationship with God. If we want to make sure we are passing the test we need to know that we are loving with God's love. So, how can we know it is God's love and not our love?

6 Signs a Person Has God's Love

The first sign of God's love is being in a right relationship with God. As I mentioned above this is the key unlocking God's love to flow through us. The way to a right relationship with God is through a relationship with Jesus Christ. 

The second sign of God's love is Jesus working through us. Jesus must become the boss of our life. We must get to know Him and what He is like, what He desires, and we must begin to emulate Him. This will show us the kind of love that God has for the world.

The third sign of God's love is a complete understanding of why Jesus came to the earth. The essentials of the Christian faith are key to allowing God's love to be fully understood. Jesus was born of a virgin, lived a perfect, sinless life, healed the sick, taught the truths about God, willingly gave Himself as a sacrifice for sin, died on a cruel cross, rose again after three days, appeared to many people after His death, and then ascended to be with God the Father. Jesus came to the earth for this purpose: to place on full display what God's love really looks like.

The fourth sign of God's love is the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Jesus left the earth, but He sent a helper to guide us in all truth. The Holy Spirit directs our steps but most importantly the Holy Spirit is the conduit of God's love through us to the world. 

The fifth sign of God's love is not living in fear. If you could give everyone a truth serum they would admit to fear of the unknown and fear of what comes after death. Fear is a natural part of life. Those who are in a right relationship with God however, have overcome that fear with the love that God has for them. You can only experience that love and lack of fear when you are in a right relationship with God. There may be moments of doubt but a follower of Jesus lives in love not in fear.

The sixth sign and most obvious sign of God's love is seen in how we treat people. Despite false claims, Christians have accomplished great things for those in need throughout history. These acts of kindness, care, and compassion are borne out of the love Christians experience from God and the desire to pass that love on to others.

"Dear friends, let us love one another, because love is from God, and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God." 1 John 4:7

 

What's So Important about being a Child?

Why do sons want to be like their dads? Why do daughters want to be like their moms? There is a desire, hardwired in all of us, for connection and belonging. We are born with this desire and during the early stages of life this desire manifests itself in conformity to that which we know best, our parents. 

Being a child has special perks. When I reached preadolescence, I looked back with a longing for the days when I didn't have as many chores or didn't have to go to school. I was raised in a loving home and all of my needs and most of my wants were provided for. I was loved and taken care of.

Jesus said that if a person doesn't become like a child in relation to God, that person will never be able to enter a right relationship with God. So, being a child is important in God's kingdom as well. As in a healthy home for a child on earth, being a child of God has some great perks. Here are the benefits of becoming a child of God as well as the corresponding disadvantages of not being a child of God.

6 Benefits of Being a Child of God

1. God’s children are loved but God also loves people of the world. In God's greatness, love extends to all people but, as we will see, there is a very real difference between God loving you and being in a right relationship with God.
2. God’s children know who Jesus is. People of the world refuse to acknowledge Jesus. A vast majority of thinking people in the world today admit that Jesus of Nazareth was an actual person of history but, there is a very real difference between believing that Jesus was a person of history and believing that Jesus is the savior of the world. A child of God has acknowledged Jesus as their Savior. 
3. God’s children seek to stay clean. People of the world are stained. Just like children want to be like their parents, a child of God seeks to be like their heavenly Father. This side of heaven we do not attain perfection but children of God always reach for that goal. 
4. God’s children hate and avoid sin. People of the world love and regularly practice sin. As was just mentioned, children of God are not perfect and yes, they do sin, but they hate it! People of the world continue in sin and even try to get others to join with them. 
5. God’s children have their sins covered by Jesus. People of the world continue to display their sin. Again, all people sin but children of God have their sins covered by the payment of Jesus' death on the cross. People of the world are very open and proud about their sin. 
6. God’s children are in right standing with God. People of the world do what is wrong in God’s eyes. Children of God may and do make mistakes but they never cease to be God's child. Just as a rebellious child may disappoint their parents, they will always be their offspring. 

Some may read this list and say, "Those are things you do, not benefits." However, when you enter into a right relationship with God through Jesus Christ, your tasks and benefits become one in the same. 

Two important questions: are you a child of God? Would you like to become like a child and enter into a right relationship with God? If you answered, "yes" to the first question, wonderful. If you answered, "yes" to the second question, ask God to reveal Himself to you right now and submit a comment to this blog. I would love to encourage you.