Is Your Life Marked by Love? Follow the Secret
In our last post, we read of God’s promise of transformation in 2 Corinthians 3:18. As we behold Jesus’ glory through spending time with Him, the Holy Spirit influences change in us from the inside out.
So it’s important that we spend time seeing Jesus to the point that we worship Him and trust Him to the point we choose to submit to Him and align our lives with His Spirit and direction. Seeing Him is meant to be transformative. There is an incredible blessing available to all who spend intimate time with Jesus!
Another great passage that provides hope is 1 John 4:7-12.
In verse 10, we read, “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” It is essential to recognize that God’s love for us comes first. Any love we have is not borne of duty but as a response to experiencing His love. If we are not actively knowing and experiencing God’s love in the present moment, we may struggle to genuinely love others.
Any love we have is not borne of duty but as a response to experiencing His love.
In verse 7, he tells us, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.” Notice, the believer who actively knows God, at that moment, the believer who presently sees and experiences God is the one who loves. The source of loving others is God’s love experienced and influencing us.
The believer who presently sees and experiences God is the one who loves.
In verse 8, “The one who does not love does not know [experience, relate to] God, for God is love.” The believer who is acting apart from love, in that moment, is not affected by God’s love. He says they do not immediately experience God’s presence. He is not influencing them in this situation.
Finally, in 1 John 4:12, we find the key to transformation: “No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us.” This verse reveals that as we love one another, God’s presence closely influences us, and His love is perfected in us. Meaning it has completed its purpose!
This is the process of perfecting love.
1) God acts in love toward you.
He loves you, meets a need, and somehow blesses you.
2) You receive His love and are blessed.
You see Him in this and respond to Him. God’s love fills your cup, meets your needs, delivers you, provides for you, protects you, or heals you, and this transforms you.
3) God’s love for you influences your love.
When you respond out of the abundance of God’s love and you meet the needs of another, God’s love is perfected. It’s gone full circle. God acts through you to love another. That’s awesome. That’s transformation. That’s the fruit of transformation.
When we allow God’s love to transform us, the fruit of this transformation is love for others.
True transformation comes from actively knowing and experiencing God’s love for us in each moment, not just intellectually believing but allowing God’s love to shape our will, emotions, and identity.
The truest mark of Christlikeness, transformation, and spiritual maturity is love. Not speaking in tongues or doing miracles, Bible knowledge, converting people, or overcoming addiction. But love for God and others, which is good for everyone.
The truest mark of Christlikeness, transformation, and spiritual maturity is love.
If we desire genuine change and transformation, we must open ourselves to the transforming grace of God in Christ. By drawing near to Him and embracing His love.