Knowing Love

Suffice it to say, once our physical needs are met, each one of us is looking for something to satisfy us, somehow or in some way.  And a big part of what we think will satisfy us is love.

When I think of love, I think of that boy-girl romance and those "feelings" that start sometime around puberty and are a mixture of affection, caring, and physical attraction.  

But truthfully, I'm not really sure what love is.  I just want to know that someone cares for me. 

And deep down, I don't think I'm worthy enough to be loved, or at least as good as other people, people who seem to be loved and accepted.

At that point, life becomes a game in which I have to "prove" to others and to myself that I'm good enough.

And ultimately, behind all of this, is the question, "How do I get right with God?  I'm not worthy enough.  Does God really love me?  Is He on my side?"

From The Apology of the Augsburg Confession:

...God wishes to be reconciled to us, not because of our own righteousnesses, but because of another's merits:  Christ.

God wishes to be reconciled to us, to me.  God wishes it!  And it's not because I'm good or worthy enough.  But because He loves me, because of Christ.

I always make the same mistake because I get it backwards:  I think about the commandments - loving God and loving my neighbors.  I attempt to live that out, and then I wonder why people don't respond.  


But...

In this is love, not that we have loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.              1 John 4:10

Knowing love is knowing that God loves us, that He loves me.

Not only that...

...but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  Romans 5:8

Romans 5:10 uses the phrase, "while we were enemies."  While still an enemy, Jesus died for me.  That's love.  

It's similar to how parents love their children, children who are naughty, who get into trouble, who don't seem to "learn their lesson."  And we still love them.

That's love, and that's how God loves us.  It's His love that matters, not my love for others or their love for me.

And it's also His love that enables and compels us to selflessly love other people.

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.                1 John 4:7