"Who do you love??" Back in 1975 George Thorogood released his rendition of the classic Bo Diddley hit, and boy did he put his Detroit Blues mark on that song! If you haven't listened to old George belt out the lyrics in a while or if you aren't familiar with George Thorogood and the Destroyers, I recommend you check it out, it is well worth the dime! Throughout Thorogood's version of this bluesy tune he continually asks the question "Who do you love?". With Valentine’s Day right around the corner and hearts pasted up everywhere you look, the question begs to be asked today, "Who, do you love?"
I Corinthians 13 is frequently called the love chapter of the Bible, as it most certainly does spell out what true love looks like and how we should show our love to others, but today I want to look at another love chapter in the Bible, I John 4. One of my favorite verses in the Bible is found in this chapter, verse 4 proclaims "greater is He who is in me, then he who is in the world", which lays the foundation for our discussion about love. On our own we are incapable of the type of love that God has shown us, "greater is He who is in me, basically spells it out that when we abide in God our limits are erased and we are now capable of doing things that appear to be humanly impossible.
Verses 7-9 gives us this explanation, God is love. Can we really say we love someone if we don't love the very One that set the stage for what love in its most basic form looks like? God gave his Son to be a sacrifice for our sins, all of our sins, so that we might live through His death. He gave the world Jesus, when the world turned its back on Him. So true love is loving someone regardless of whether they love you or not. That's a tough one for us. We have a hard-enough time loving those that tell us that they love us, let alone all the ones that hurt us, upset us, think differently than us, or even those that may look or sound a little different than us. I don't think the Bible says, love those that look like you, and those that have the same cultural background as you. I read through I John 4 in its entirety just to make sure. Nope not there. What it does say is this, "We love him, because he first loved us. If a man says, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?" I John 4:19-20. We are called to love our fellow man, because God first loved us and gave us His example of what love really looks like.
As we stock up on chocolates and roses this Valentine’s Day, how about we also take an inventory of our love quotient and who we are actually giving our "love" to. "How can we say we love God whom we have not seen, if we do not love our fellow man that we do see each and every day?" (vs. 20). That is a really good question. When Jesus was asked what was the greatest commandment he declared "thou shall love the Lord thy God will all thy heart and soul" Matthew 22:37, and then He coupled that with a second command of loving thy neighbor as thyself. If we want to truly know what God expects of us in the love category, that sums it up nicely. To love you must love others or how can you say you love God. He loved us enough to allow His son to die for our sins, how far are we willing to go to share that same type of love inside and outside of our immediate circle in life?
Can you do it on your own? Of course not, loving your so-called enemies is not something we do based on our own instincts and backgrounds. Yet if we want to declare we live for and serve the God of love, then we must strive each day to be more like Him. The good news is He is with us each step along the way. Greater is He who is IN me! You can't do this alone, but you are not alone, the same God who rose Jesus from His tomb is the same God that is with you each and every step along the way. Oh, to be more like God and share our love with not only those we are deeply connected to, but also to our fellow man.
Happy Valentine's Day!
Coach Carter
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