God Is Love

During our Wednesday Morning Women's Bible Study this morning we came across a familiar claim in the fourth chapter of 1 John:  "God is love."

This phrase is deceptively simple.  We've all heard it before.  The ease with which we digest it (and move on to more puzzling things) threatens to obscure its depth and importance.

Notice what it says.  God is love.  This is not a comparison as in, "God resembles love."  Neither is it a tool or methodology, "God prefers love."  It's a statement of being.  God is love.  The two are one and the same.  "Is" means equals...interchangeable...when you say one you've said them both.

I can't even count the number of times I've heard people try to describe God while skating around this simple definition.  They always end up with something besides God in the end.  You cannot separate God from love and end up in the right place.  If it is not love it's not God anymore no matter what name you put to it.

As God's children, redeemed and sanctified by him, we are called to represent and share him with each other and with the world.  That means we are also called to be love to the world.  It's an interesting concept.  Most often we employ love as a verb.  We say we have to love the world.  That seems difficult.  There are plenty of things not to love!  When we understand that we are to be love to the world, things become a little clearer.  Instead of asking, "How am I feeling here?" or "How am I reacting to this situation?" we can simply ask, "What does love look like right now?  What can I bring that shows love?"  I don't really feel love for a guy who comes to my door and asks me for gas, but I can be love and show love by filling his tank.  In that moment, love looks like gasoline!  Sometimes love looks like lasagna or raked leaves or keeping my mouth shut when the turkey is too dry.  Each of these becomes a holy act, for when love is among us there God is also.

God is love.  Don't miss the importance of those words as you're talking about, showing, and embodying our Lord!

--Pastor Dave (pastordave@geneseelutheranparish.org)