last night i read Songs of Solomon almost on a whim, and it taught me quite a lot of things about love, and especially about God's view of it. today during service God gave me this thought: God is love, and that makes Him a God of love too. that intrigued me so much that i flipped to the following passage and the familiar words just came alive to me today. i thank God that in my search for His words on normal human love, He pointed me back to His agape love and said, "here. this is what love is truly meant to be."

   "Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed His love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him. This is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and His love is made complete in us.

   We know that we live 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 His Son to be the Saviour of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.

   God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgement, because in this world we are like Him. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

   We love because He first loved us. If anyone says, 'I love God,' yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And He has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother." (1 John 4:7-21)

   i guess the main thing that comes to mind is firstly, the repeated use of the word love. my pastor once told me that in the original greek, there are three different levels of love: the normal friendship love, the eros love between husband and wife, and agape love, which is the love that God has for us. agape love is love that is complete, absolute, unconditional and eternal.

   "for love comes from God" (v.4) God is the one who helps us to love, because it is human nature to sin and go against him. this is also seen in v.19, "We love because He first loved us." i remember reading this passage a few years ago when i was preparing for worship one week, and i was just struck by how we have absolutely no reason to claim that we are holy because we "love God", because our love is only a response to what God has already done for us. We never initiated contact with God (in fact i think if left to ourselves, we would never have wanted to because He changes people), He reached out to us first. and that's just so amazing.

   "Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love." (v.8) the stark truth is stated here: only those who know God will love the people around them. i struggle a lot with this verse because it's such a tough verse to apply. there is the call to ensure that my actions towards others reflects God's love for me. in a sense God's agape love is a template for us, it shows us what ultimate love is, and then we try our best to translate that into the relationships we have we others. that means that in order for me to imitate God's agape love, however inadequately, i would need to know what His love is. and i find that looking at Jesus' life has helped me to glimpse a bit more of what God's amazing love is, because Jesus' life, crucifixion and resurrection is the greatest example of God's agape love. "Very rarely will one die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:7-8)

   God doesn't secretly love us, He shows it! "This is how God showed His love among us..." (v.9) that taught me to show my love for others more, especially towards my parents and my siblings. but it's always difficult, and God promises us one thing, that "if we love one another, God lives in us and His love is made complete in us." (v.12) i think that's an amazing incentive for us to love others, because God will live in us, and even better, His love will be perfected in our weak and flawed lives. for me that just shows the depth of His grace, because i am now counted righteous before God due to what Jesus has done for me on the cross, and i have the chance to be a God-filled person. God has even given us the Holy Spirit (v.13), and reading that verse was a good reminder not to take the Spirit for granted, because He is God's gift.

   "And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him." (v.16) i thank God that we can rely on His love, we can look at His example and see how to love others with even more grace. ultimately, this entire issue of whether we should love those around us boils down to this simple question: do we want God to live in us? i've never seen it in such a stark manner, but today's reading has made me realise that it is a choice that i have to make, and if i make the choice to desire God's presence in me, then i have to fulfil my part and love others.

   it's so difficult, especially if they're people i don't like or can't understand, but God's commands are clear. i take comfort from the words, "In this way, love is made complete among us..." (v.17) it shows that love in our human relationships with each other cannot be perfected without God's presence and help, and that is something i'm slowly learning, even as i mull over various issues.

   i remember brandon sharing his thoughts on this passage during prayer meeting one day, and he said that this verse, "but perfect love drives out fear..." (v.18) means a lot to him. for me i'm just filled with gratitude for the fact that the cross has enabled us to love God, to know and understand His love, and not just to fear and obey Him. i thank God that we no longer have to go through those elaborate cleansing rituals in the Old Testament before we can meet Him. He is a very near God, a very personal God, and that just means so much to me.

   the last thing that struck me was this bold assertion, "If anyone says, 'I love God,' yet hates his brother, he is a liar." (v.20) it's scary because there's absolutely no way out of loving God without loving others. i guess it's probably because it's in the relationships that we cultivate with others, when we make an effort to love in the manner that God first loved us, that we slowly begin to appreciate what His love truly means, and that enables us to love Him with even greater intensity and sincerity.

   my hope is that somehow, in my own small way, i might have challenged someone to dare to love others more, to dare to love others, strangers even, with the same extravagant love that we have been blessed with. this passage has similarly motivated me to evaluate my relationships and how i react to people, especially those i don't really like, and see whether my actions have reflected my Christian faith.

   shall leave you with a song that we sang at youth today. i love the many roles and names that are attributed to God in the chorus, it helps me to remember that there is so much more to God, and that i've a long way to go in understanding who He is.

I will bless the Lord forever

I will trust Him at all times

He has delivered me from all fears

He has set my feet upon a rock

And I will not be moved

And I'll say of the Lord

*You are my shield, my strength

My fortress, deliverer

My shelter, strong tower

My very present help in times of need

Whom have I in heaven but You

There is none I desire besides You

For You have made me glad

And I'll say of the Lord