God's love for us | Abundant Streams

Loving abundantly

Streams of abundant love will start to flow through your heart once you understand what love is. Let us explore God’s love for us and, this will open up our understanding and help us cherish loving Christ, our neighbors, our enemies, and ourselves.

Definition of God’s love

Here is the bible definition of love, also known as charity, 1 Corinthians 13:4-8.

Charity suffereth long, and is kind, charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;
Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;
Beareth all things, believeth all things, endureth all things.
Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.

SPREAD GOD’S LOVE

Let me break it down

Love is the patience of the heart, even when one seems undeserving, and shows kindness to others. Love is not mad nor desires the thing that does not belong to it. It does not seek its praise, is not boastful. Love does not make itself more important than others.

Love does not act out of character and changes form. Neither is love about self-gain and trampling on others. Love is not easy to tempt; it is a triumph. Where there is love, evil has no place in the heart.

Love takes no joy in wrongdoings; it praises only in the truth.

Love will stand in the gap and protect; it believes in you, love feels for you.

When all else fails, love will always remain. Why? Because God’s love is unconditional.

Two reasons why loving is important

The nature of God is love. Loving originates from God.
Loving God is the first and great commandment.

Practice guide to loving

Make a daily attempt to practice loving until your heart grows in love and understands the power of loving.
Start to define love in your life not only in words but in deeds. For example, when you say, I love you to someone, speak from your heart. When your words are honest, your actions will express feelings of love.
Practicing loving may seem hard, but it is not impossible. God can help you through the process; nothing is impossible with God. For example, you can pray and ask God to help you with learning how to love.

Here is a prayer to help you

Heavenly Father, thank you for your mercy and your grace. Thank you, Lord, for the love you have for me and for proving your love for me when you die on the cross for my sins. Thank you for your forgiving grace. Lord, I ask for a heart of flesh. Teach me how to love and to walk in love continually. Let my heart grow in love, that I may love you more and more each day and show love to my neighbor. Amen.

God’s love for us

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16.
Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. John 15:13.
But God commendeth his love towards us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8.

There is no greater love than the love of Jesus Christ; he is the perfect example of genuine love. We can learn so much from him. Reading the gospel is the best place to start. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Learning about Jesus is truly a wonderful experience. Everyplace that Jesus sets foot in his love follows. You will see it for yourself as you begin to read the gospel of Christ.

It was because of love Jesus went to the cross. Love that took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses. Love that forgave us our sins while we were sinners. His love set the captives free and gave us hope of salvation. It is love that keeps on giving.

Love God

And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. Deuteronomy 6:5.
And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul,
To keep the commandments of the LORD, and his statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good. Deuteronomy 10:12-13.
Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
This is the first and great commandment. Matthew 22:37-38.
He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.
Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.
He that loveth me not keepeth not my saying: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me. John 14:21; 23-24.

Love God with all your heart

To know God is to fear God. When you love God, you will keep his commandments. You obey his commandments because his love is inside of you. The presence of God is real in your life. You respect his power of authority over your life.

If a person says they love God and do not keep his commandments, they are a liar.

The ten commandments are God’s word and not from man. Let us learn to be obedient to the Father and honor his word.

Love yourself

Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? 1 Corinthians 3:16.
What! know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20.

Our Bodies is the temple of God – God’s love in your heart

Remember John 14:21, 23-24 above this page. God makes his habitation in us. Our bodies are the temple of the Lord, indwells the Spirit of God.

We are not of our own we belong to God. Loving God is also respecting the temple which he abode.

You might say, wait, what does any of this has to do with loving myself? Well then, think about this. Say, for, example a young lady that’s subconscious about her weight; she has an eating disorder. Every time she eats, she would immediately run to the bathroom and causes herself to vomit.

This young lady is afraid of gaining weight. She constantly worries that people would pick on her about her weight. And she is not the healthiest eater and sometimes deals with stomach issues. She keeps this secret to herself. Imagine what other health issues she might be battling.

Question. Does this remotely sound like someone that likes themself? Not at all. If you do not love yourself, you will not respect the temple of God. And if you do not respect the temple of God, you will not love yourself. The body is the temple of the Lord.

When you love yourself, you will take care of yourself, thus caring for the temple of God. That young lady in the story above is abusing her body, which is the temple of God. She shows no kindness to herself and puts her health at risk. That is not the act of someone who loves themselves.

Love your neighbor

And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Matthew 22:39.
Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honor preferring one another; Romans 12:10.
Let brotherly love continue. Hebrews 13:1.
Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently: 1 Peter 1:22.

Obeying the word of God will make our hearts clean through the Spirit. God wants us to genuinely; love each other. Let us have a passion for loving our brethren with a pure heart.

Have you heard the parable of The Good Samaritan? It is a good story and an example of showing kindness, even in the case of a stranger.

Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. Hebrews 13:2.

Let us love each other as ourselves, the way God wants us to and not according to the world stander of love. The world loves with conditions but, God’s love is unconditional.

Love your enemies

Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy.
But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?
And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? Do not even the publicans so?
Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. Matthew 5:43-48.
But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend; hoping for nothing again: and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the un-thankful and to the evil. Luke 6:35.
Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing: knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing.
For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil. 1 Peter 3:9, 12.

I encourage you to continue reading the book of 1 Peter 3. There are many more scriptures on love but, I will not overwhelm you. For more bible verses on love, check out this page.

To love your enemy

There are people in this world that would say and do things to hurt others. Some even take pleasure in the pain of other people. It is unfortunate, but this is the world we live in; that is until Jesus returns for the final time.

God wants us to show love to our enemies. We are not to be partial with love, one to another. Jesus did not pick any one particular group that he would lay down his life. For God so loved the world; remember those words. God’s love extends to everyone from the moment Jesus went on the cross.

If you are a Christian, like me, you know that we were once enemies of God. And because of his undying love for us, everyone has an opportunity to reconcile with him. First, you must believe in Christ Jesus.

Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.
And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son . 1 John 5:1,11.
For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son; much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. Romans 5:10.

The will of God is, love your enemies

Jesus instructs us to love our enemies, be a blessing, and do good to them that hate us. He also tells us to pray for our enemies. We can only achieve this when God’s love is rooted deep within our hearts. We know we love him when we keep his commandment, and this is his commandment. By doing this, we set ourselves apart from the world. Though in the world, yet not partakers of the things of the world.

Just as God has forgiven us our sins, we also ought to forgive those that did us wrong. Jesus teaches us a simple prayer, yet powerful and effective.

Example of God’s love

For even hereunto we were called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:
Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth:
Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously:
Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.
For ye was as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls. 1 Peter 2:21-25.

Jesus is 100 percent God, who walked among man in the flesh. Everywhere he went God’s love was magnified; by his good works. Jesus truly cares about us and our well-being. He wishes for all to repent and be saved rather than live in sin and perish. The experience that Jesus went through on the cross would be a lot for a person to endure. Because of his never-ending love for us, Christ goes through suffering on the cross. He did this so that through him, all might be free.

Now give God the praise, for him alone is worthy of it all.

My experience on love that saved me – God’s love

Many years ago, as a teenager, I was in a nasty car accident. This incident happened in the early winter season, and the day prior it, had snowed heavily. Two people went home to be with the Lord that night. Of the two was my dear mother, whom I loved. At the hospital, my aunt told me what had happened to my mother. This news was so devastating, and it broke my heart. I was very emotional and, the pain never left me for so many years. Though the physical wounds have begun to heal, the emotional scars were very hard to deal with daily.

Many people I have seen in and out of my life. There was a woman that remained close in my life. She opened up her heart to me and treated me kindly. She remembers me in prayer and has been a blessing in my life. Her words, I love you, warms my heart and diminishes the loneliness I have felt. She is a good woman, a godly person, an angel, my angel.

I’ve watched her care for the needs of others. Open her doors to many and treat people with kindness. She is a giver at heart, asking nothing in return.

God’s love never left my side

While in prayer, in the early winter of 2013, after spending time in the bible, the Lord began to open my mind to things I did not understand; previously. I finally realized it was Christ I have witnessed all this time. It was God’s love, the love of Christ in her, that loved me.

God was watching over me, and I did not know it; his love saved me. I was feeling hopeless after losing my mother. This world had no meaning to me. I felt like God left me and that I should not be here.

I have experienced hurt from others and became distant from the church. That place scared me; I trusted no one. She would say to me that there is no peace outside of Jesus Christ. The God in her would never leave me alone. I would get very weary of hearing those words. God never gave up on me. Why? Charity suffereth long.

I am who I am because of the abundant love of Jesus Christ, that never left my side. Therefore let love reign in your hearts. When you do this, the world gets to see and experience the God in you.

Thank you for taking the time to read this message. May the blessings of the Lord be upon you, always.

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