Love Is Second

The #1 thing I want is to walk in the Spirit.  That’s where security is, that’s where love is, and that’s where I am most truly myself—with Him, in Him.  I love that.  The #1 thing is not to walk in love, but the Spirit, because the Spirit produces love—pure, genuine and perfect.  I want Him more than anything, and in that wanting I’ll have everything else.  Otherwise, to walk “lovingly” becomes a self-defined action and look that cannot be maintained.  Have you noticed?

We, ourselves, are not the source of love – Jesus is.  God is love, but love is not God.  That distinction is important.  In the same way that water is wet, but not everything that is wet is water (Consider that poison is wet), so it is that not everything that’s described as love or loving is God.  No doubt you’ve made that distinction by now.  In the same way that what goes on around you is described as your life—“How’s your life going?”—you know that when Jesus said, “I have come that you may have life and have it to the full,” He meant on your inside, where He would come to live as the way, the truth, and the life.  Right?

We make that distinction.  So it is with love.  It’s Him.

You and I are invited to know and to drink deeply from the source of love, because love comes from God, as 1 John 4 tells us.  We know that drink will powerfully affect us and those around us.  It’s supposed to—that’s the design.  The affect might be God-produced humility and gentleness, qualities most everyone wants to be around.  Consider what Jesus said we would find if we took His yoke upon us; that HE is gentle and humble in heart, and we’ll find rest.  That’s beautiful.  That’s Him.

Or the affect of drinking from the source of love, God, might be a God-produced, firm rebuke that you give to someone, which might make us nervous.  “Could that happen to me?”  Well, maybe.  But consider how Jesus loved the momentarily deceived apostle Peter.  Remember what He said to Peter?  “Get thee behind me. . .Satan.”  Woo!  That’s strong!  Was it love?  Here’s a better question:  Was it God?  Yes.  It was.  That’s the qualifier.  That’s beautiful because that’s Him.

Look, I want to walk in love – duh.  Don’t you?  But I know that love disconnected from the source all too easily becomes an act in order to secure a desired outcome in a relationship, whether with a relative, a friend, a co-worker, or a refugee.  We might say that, “Walking in love is the key.”  But I think that walking in the Spirit is the key that opens the door in me and in you for love—God’s love—pure, genuine and perfect, for you and for those around you.  That’s the deal.  It’s God Himself.

So drink deeply from Him and enjoy His affect.  Whatever that is, it will be love.

(This is a transcript of yesterday’s video, “Love Is #2,” and is for those who might rather read than watch.  To see the video, scroll down this blog page, or click https://youtu.be/rTXr-qgdYAk.)