Tower of the Lord

“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.” 1 John 4:7 If we are of God we will love and John is not talking about “mushy, mushy” romantic love, he is talking about Agape Love.

AG•A•PÉ (a’gə-pā’): Greek word for love used by the early Christians to refer to the special love for God and God’s love for man, as well as the self-sacrificing love they believed all should have for each other.

So we are to have Agape Love towards God and towards others. There are three things that I would like to outline in this article they are: what is Love, how do we show Love and why should we Love. Lets begin with what love is…

What is Love?
According to 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” To me this says love is how we act not what we feel. It isn’t the warm feeling that we get when we hold a little baby it is the way we act when someone is irritating. Love is a verb, an action, not something that “grows in you” but something that you build towards others. Love is the kind word when someone needs comforting, the ready hug in times of trouble. Love is the smile on your face when everything seems wrong and when you feel all alone, and you smile not because you are happy but because you love God and He loves you. So if God abides in us then we will love because God is love and he who knows God has love.

How do we show Love?
Practically speaking love is: patience with your siblings or children, compassion for those in pain, kindness toward those who are friendless, help to the struggling and much, much more. As I said earlier love is an action not a feeling, and so we show it by acting it out and performing acts of love towards our neighbors and enemies. Love “bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails” this is how we show our love; we bear one another’s burdens and help them when they struggle. Love believes all things and acts accordingly. If we believe everything that the Bible says then we give people the benefit of the doubt until they prove themselves unworthy of trust. Love hopes all things, it hopes for the salvation of the world, the repentance of all sinners, it hopes for a better tomorrow. “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1 KJV). Love endures all things, love endures temptation, it endures persecution and afflictions. And love never fails! No matter what is set against it and no matter what attacks it, love never fails! It is eternal and everlasting, because God is Love so love is eternal. We show our love by acting it out toward our neighbors and enemies through compassion and unconditional love.

Why should we Love?
There is an old hymn that says “They will know that we are Christians by our Love” this means that people will notice that we are different and that we have something in us that makes us joyful in troubles and pain. In 1 John 4:21 we are told “And He has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.” this is a commandment, not a suggestion or a request, it is a command from the LORD. Think about it, if we were to love everyone regardless of age, gender, race, political persuasion, or anything else then the world would be much more peaceful and if those people returned that love then the entire world would be saved because “everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.” (Part of 1 John 4:7). But aside from these positive side effects “we should love because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19 adapted).

In conclusion we need to remember three key verses: 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a, 1 John 4:7-21 and Mark 12:30-31. These verses explain the three questions I asked at the begining, What is Love? (1 Cor. 13:4-8a), How should we show Love? (1 John 4:7-21) and Why should we Love? (Mark 12:30-31). Love is first for God and second for your neighbors, these are the greatest commandments and these are the meaning of Agape.

TheRebelution.com just launched the results of their massive Modesty Survey! Over 1,600 Christian guys answered questions on everything from glitter lotion and lip gloss to swimsuits and skirt slits! For you girls, it’s everything you’ve ever wanted to ask guys about modesty, but were afraid to ask! For you guys, it’s really interesting to see what other Christian guys think!

Most importantly, the survey is presented as a resource to help Christian girls (and guys), not a list of legalistic rules, and it is accompanied by the Modesty Survey Petition (which tons of guys have signed) which encourage young women to focus on the heart, not the hemline, to honor their parents, etc. 

TheRebelution.com presents the results of the survey as a big St. Valentine’s Day gift from 1,600 Christian guys to all Christian girls—and I can’t think of a better one!

Go check it out: www.therebelution.com/modestysurvey

But also make sure you spread the word to all your friends. We want as many Christian girls  as possible to see it on Valentines Day, so you can repost this post on your blog or forward it as an email.

Guys, they are still accepting signatures for the Modesty Survey Petition, so this is an opportunity for you to still share your voice on the topic of modesty!