“He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.” – 1 John 4: 8-9
The idea of love in America is constantly being re-branded; magazines, television, social media; they all are continuously taking love and presenting it to the consumer as he or she would want to see it. Today, the slogan might be something like: “love has no labels.” They maintain that love has no responsibility, but rather it is whatever you say it is. The world treats love as a product that we can dress up or dress down. It is totally up to you. Since you get to determine what love is, then we must all accept each other’s presentation of it (be it homosexuality, adultery, fornication, or the like). To do otherwise automatically qualifies as the opposite of love and therefore hateful.
On the surface this would seem forward thinking, but in actually it is idolatry. As sanctified Christians, we must wholly reject the premises of “love has no labels;” for in fact it does. It has a label, identity, definition and example. Love is God and God is love. The idea that we as humanity own love or rather can dictate what love is, is idolatry, because God is love. Love already has an identity and love already has a definition. God is love. To maintain that love is happening outside of who God is would be the same as saying that God is not who he says He is. God gave us love and love will show us God. You cannot re-brand it, you cannot own it, and you cannot say it exist where it does not. Love has already been branded. Jesus Christ is the manifestation of love, God’s love, toward mankind. He created it, presented it, branded it, and offered it freely to the masses. God took the love that he owned and offered it to mankind through His Son. He presented a piece of Himself to us. This truth can only be understood after it is first accepted in faith. If you believe that Christ was the Son of God, then you believe that the gospel he brought was from the Father; and if you believe the gospel then you believe that God is love and his love was manifested toward us in his Son. Therefore, when looking for love, we look no further than Christ! If you’re looking for it in another person then you’re looking in the wrong place. If you are looking for it in your job, or activity, or religion, or sexual orientation; you are looking in the wrong place. It’s a counterfeit, and not the very love that God would have for his creation. You can no more expect to gain heaven and accept or embrace a counterfeit love, than you could by accepting or embracing a false idol. When you accept Jesus and embrace Christ then you can truly understand and obtain perfect love. If you do, if you have the faith to look past what the TV says, what current culture says, what the government says, or even what your own fleshly desires say; if you have faith to look to Jesus and give your life to him then you understand and experience: real, genuine, perfect love. Christ’s love is a life giving and life changing. Jesus brings to life to the inner man that is “dead in trespasses and sin.” When the love of God fills your heart, it causes you to love God and love what God loves. This means that you want to obey his Word and follow his instruction and do His will. Also, it makes you love your neighbor (and helps you love your enemies). You want what God wants for them and thereby you cannot accept what the devil is blinding them with.
God’s love, perfect love, THE love: is the mark of a follower of Christ. Society tells us that love is whatever we want it to be. That love, like everything else in this world, was put here for you. To seek, to find, and to enjoy. The devil sells this counterfeit to any and every buyer. Satan would cause us to believe that love is a commodity and not a commandment. However, this is a false idol. God is love;, and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in Him.
