“Why do you love him?” “Why do you love her?” I ask these questions every time I meet with a couple to help them prepare for marriage. Their answers, “She is kind.” “I can tell him anything.” “He is honest.” “She really listens to me.” “He accepts me.” Every answer points to a simple but true reality, when we trust someone, this trust allows love to fuel our affections for that “Someone.” When we trust someone, love has a chance to grow.
For the past few weeks, our discovery of the process Jesus used to transform fishers of fish into fishers of men has taken us down the road of following, and as Jenny wrote, following is about the eyes, seeing Jesus. After that, Jenny introduced us to trust and what it means to place the weight of our lives upon Jesus. As the disciples saw Jesus, they began to trust.
When we use the word love, we are specifically talking about an “all in” love. The kind that Jesus describes as “All my heart, all my mind, all my soul and all my strength.” When I follow, I trust, and as I trust, the love God has for me fuels my affection for him.
In the process of transformation that Jesus used, he invites us to follow him, and as we see who he is, how he loves, what he does - we begin to place more and more of the weight of our lives upon him. In other words, we trust him. As this trust grows, our affection for him grows, being field by his love for us.
In the Bible, there are so many descriptions of God’s love for us that trying to choose just one is nearly impossible. His love is demonstrated from cover to cover, beginning with how he created us, giving us his image, rescuing us from our sin, giving us a new set of mercies each morning, placing God the Holy Spirit within us, sealing us forever. His love is demonstrated by making access to God attainable to all who come by faith. This love reaches its result when he has prepared a place for us to be with HIM for all eternity.
In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul wrote an incredible description of God’s love with these words:
“Love is patient; love is kind. It does not envy; it does not boast; it is not proud. It does not dishonor others; 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. Love never fails.”
For the purpose of this blog, there is one aspect of his love I want to focus upon, “Love keeps no record of wrongs.” Wow, pause and let that soak in. God’s love for us keeps no record of wrongs. The ledger is blank. The ledger is blank, not because I have not sinned but because Jesus demonstrated his love by taking upon himself the weight and penalty of my sin and for the whole world.
Think about it, I have a God who has a blank ledger of my wrongs, on the cover is my name, and every page inside is blank. This kind of love is intended to fuel our love by giving me someone I can trust. John, the best friend of Jesus, said it this way, “We love because he loved us first.” I do not love out of nobility; I do not love out of duty; I do not love out of some kind of profit/loss thinking. I love because I am loved. All love comes from being loved!
Let me finish with two thoughts. First, how does it feel to know that the ledger in God’s hand that carries your name on the cover - has nothing but blank pages when you place your faith in Christ? In my own life, my love for God and my love for others is fueled by this truth.
Second, in the process of disciplining others, it is important to examine what fuels affection. At times, affection is fueled by a hunger for success, the need for acceptance, a kind word of another, the desire to be significant. What do these have in common as fuel for affection? They do not last. God’s love never ceases. There is an inexhaustible amount of fuel. What fuels the affection will determine the direction of a person’s life because, as Jesus once said - our heart follows treasure.
Thanks for reading, and you are loved by the God who made you and knows you!