second love

For this is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another.”

1 John 3:11

There must be some reason why love is mentioned throughout the Bible. From Abraham and Sarah, Ruth and Boaz and Elizabeth & Zechariah, there are love stories that have God as the central character. God is Love. Percy Dreamer wrote in his hymn ‘God is love, his the care, tending each, everywhere,’ God loves each and every one of us, the same, equally. We, then, as a result of this glorious love then share it. As it says in 1John,

We should love one another

Is there someone in your life, or has been pivotal in your life that you have felt that love, have felt a love that is not earthy or lustful, is not in any way human in its root. The love that makes you want to know more about where that love comes from, how to have some of that love.

Remember the love-ins of the sixties and early seventies, that was bunches of people who wanted that love but they looked to each other for it instead of having God as the central core.

Only with a relationship with the Lord can we share this love, only with that love within us and surrounding us, like swimming in love can we share it. We have to experience it first, and once we have it transforms us so that we are love.

Love is one of the fruits of the Spirit, and for a long time, I thought these were things you aimed for and fell short of and then aimed again. I did not realise that when I was at my most vulnerable when I surrendered my entire life to the Lord that these were then given to me freely.

²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. ²⁴ Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. ²⁵ Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. ²⁶ Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other. 

Galatians 5:22-26

The beautiful fruits of the Spirit are the most succulent of fruits, there is a depth to the flavour of them that is not tasted in anything else. There are layers and layers to the understanding of them, each day new insights come, perception is forever changed and sapience increased. The simplicity in the words of the Bible is seen, instead of riddles and conundrums.

There are and will always be things that remain in the mists of the unknown, and that’s okay. It is in the not knowing, not understanding everything that keeps it fresh, there is always something new to discover, to peel off the coverings and be like a child seeing a butterfly for the first time. That sense of wonder, of incredulous wonder. We can only imagine how much more there is to discover.

It is not like a jigsaw puzzle with a few pieces missing, there is no Gestalt theory that helps us fill in the gaps. There are gaps and we have to leap, jump over the wall, with faith and know that the Lord, who knows all, will allow us to know what we need to know in his time.

Our love of the Lord and his love of us creates a relationship, if we then love everyone there is a veritable web of love surrounding this planet. If everyone on the planet felt this love and shared this love, peace would reign.

Try it, share the love of the Lord with everyone and watch it transform you and those around you