Lee McDowell Christian
Ministries LMCM
Nacogdoches,
Texas Gal. 2:20 KJV
Michael’s book is
available through:
Abiding Life
Ministries International
Littleton, Colorado
(303) 972-0859 almi@abidinglife.com
God’s Definition of Love
Though you have
not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in
Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory. –I Peter 1:8
We must stop
trying to define love in human terms. It is too narrow and incorrect. We are human, so our definitions will
be lacking. Therefore, it
is only God who can define Himself. As humans we are so far off on our
definition of God that when He came, no one recognized Him! “See how great a love the Father has
bestowed upon us, that we should be called children of God; and {such} we are.
For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him” (I
John 3:1).
Again, we stand or fall by our definitions. The world’s definition of love
is the fulfillment of the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the
boastful pride of life. When a different person, position, or thing can
feed all three aspects of the flesh, the carnal person might well “fall out of
love” with whom or what he had and say he “loves” that other person, job, or
material possession. For
someone in the world to say, “I love you,” is to say, “You are meeting all
three aspects of my carnal nature,” and that is why the world’s love is
so fragile. Remember the breakups in high school? Some had the honesty to say,
“I found someone better!” Better at what? Better at meeting the lust of their
eyes, lust of their flesh, and the boastful pride of their life. How hard it is
to hang on to someone with such stiff fleshly competition from others! The world’s love is definitely
performance-based. When we do not meet a child’s carnal needs we may
well hear him mutter, “I do not love you!” Is it any wonder that some people
become hermits? For in an
unenlightened sense the effort involved to win the love of another is
exhausting, never ending, and ultimately disappointing. In the world
when someone says, “I love you,” the object of that love had better keep
performing. Another problem is that the flesh is like the fire that never says
enough. A child of ten years eats more than a child of one month. Therefore, by
the very nature of carnality, what satisfied yesterday does not today, and
thus, one looming phrase--“You are not meeting my needs!”--seems always just a
day or two away. Feeding
the flesh of another by meeting carnal needs is a Catch-22, for it paves the
way for a greater fleshly need that cannot be met, and that finally leads to
rejection. This is the
baggage and definition many of us were carrying with us the day we met Jesus
and heard Him whisper to us, “I love you!” “He loves me! Oh no, now I must
perform. I must meet all of His needs. He has a need for me to be
perfect, holy, righteous, blameless, forgiving, giving, consistent, pure, free
of all lusts, and more.” If
we open the Bible and start reading when we believe the above definition of
love, we will be overwhelmed by all that must be done to keep the relationship
with Him alive. Slowly the flesh begins to wane in its ability to keep
the relationship working. We fall short and we await the breakup. When He
whispers again, “I love you,” we do not believe it. We still remember high
school when the boy or girl said, “I love you,” just to placate us; the next
day we discovered he or she was off with someone else. Suffice it to say that
in and of ourselves we just do not know what love is.
For the one who
has the revelation of His love, everything changes. It is best experienced, but I will try to describe it. His love is an absolute. His love is
a standalone love. His love never needs feeding. His love is not dependent on
another. Just as a tree is a tree, a man is a man, and the sun is the
sun, love is love. Nothing that happens on earth will affect the sun; the sun
is the sun. It stands alone. It does not shine on condition. Someone can hate a
rock all he wants, curse at it, throw it, and tell it to stop being a rock, but
the fact is, his actions do not change the fact that the rock is a rock. God is Love; Love is His character. If someone’s actions could
change His love, then man’s behavior could change God. But God cannot be changed. “Jesus Christ
{is} the same yesterday and today, {yes} and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).
As Michael points out
so strongly:
·
We must stop trying to define “love” in human
terms.
·
Man’s definitions are too narrow and incorrect.
·
The world’s “love” is definitely performance-based.
·
God’s love is just the opposite of the world’s
love…not surprising.
It is staggering to me
just how possible and likely it is that many Christians are “missing God” and
being misdirected by the baggage and wrong definitions of love that were
carried into the relationship from the first day they met Jesus. But how much truth there is to that
thought! Wow! May the Lord use this day’s writing to
deliver many from that bondgage!
Grab a pen, make note
of the absolutes of the absoluteness of God’s love…and begin to enjoy Him and
His love as never before!
IF YOU HAVE ANY DESIRE
TO INTERACT WITH ME ON SOMETHING MICHAEL HAS WRITTEN, AND/OR ANY OF MY
THOUGHTS, PLEASE NOTE THE EMAIL ADDRESS JUST BELOW MY NAME AT THE BOTTOM OF
THIS.
BLESSINGS!
Pastor Lee McDowell
Yellow – VIP, Very Important Point Green
– IT, Incredible Truth
Red – GP, Greatest Promises
Turquoise – UR, Unfathomable Riches Pink
– PV, Priceless Victory
Lee McDowell Christian Ministries
leemccm@gmail.com
P. O. Box 633244 Nacogdoches, Tx 75963 936-559-5696
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