Note: This is the fourth article in a series for Advent. Previous articles are always available online at http://www.webbweekly.com.
Baby, it’s cold outside. I’m not referring to the temperature, though it is a bit nippy. I’m referring to the lack of love we are experiencing in the world today. Jesus warns us that as the end approaches, wickedness will increase, and the love of most will grow cold. See Matthew 24:12. I don’t know when the end will happen, but I know for certain it is a thousand years closer today than it was a thousand years ago. I guess the end is always approaching — and that would explain why it’s growing colder out there.
How about you? Are you finding it difficult to love people? Have you become skeptical and cynical? Are you tired of all the hypocrisy? Has the news convinced you that everyone is awful and dangerous? Have you been on the receiving end of someone’s tirade? Worse, has someone seriously hurt you in some awful way? Most of us could probably answer yes to all of the above.
My friends, we were designed by the God of love to live in love forever. The age-old question, “Who am I?” is fully answered in the statement, “I am the one God loves.” We were made for love, and more precisely, we were made for agape love.
Agape is the Greek word used throughout the New Testament for love. It is charitable and benevolent, a selfless love that seeks to protect others and to meet their needs.
When asked, “What is the greatest command?” Jesus answered, “Love (agape) the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love (agape) your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:30-31. Every aspect of human identity — emotional, spiritual, mental, physical, relational — has been designed by God for the giving and receiving of agape.
Sin and pride have broken into our story. Guilt, fear, bitterness, and regret have robbed us of the freedom to give and receive agape. The brutality of sin and the wounds and scars left behind has turned us away from others. Our focus has become inward. We have become selfish and self-serving. Our love has grown cold, but it doesn’t have to stay that way.
Nurturing Love
Agape is a fruit of the Spirit. Like all fruit, it must be nurtured through the discipline of yielding to the Holy Spirit. To grow in the ability to give and receive agape love.
1. Believe in God and confess your need for forgiveness. Belief and confession break the power of pride and release God’s mercy and grace.
2. Receive forgiveness and eternal life. Receiving forgiveness breaks the power of guilt and the fear of death, allowing us to live in confident freedom.
3. Give forgiveness to yourself and others. Forgiveness breaks the power of regret and bitterness, releasing redemption and setting us free to love others deeply from the heart.
To learn more about this amazing gift of heaven, read 1 John 4:7-21 and I Corinthians 13. By the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit, our love can grow warmer day by day.
Sadie and the Joyful Abilities
Heather and I found ourselves warmed by agape love at a special event hosted last week by a group called Joyful Abilities. We were invited by our dear friend, Sadie, who is a member of the group. We had the privilege of listening to them read the story of the birth of Jesus while mixing in some carol singing. After their presentation, we were taken to another room where we fellowshipped as they made Christmas ornaments and snacked on cookies and hot chocolate.
Joyful Abilities is led by a group of people who clearly understand the power of agape love. Life has been hard on these leaders too, but instead of letting their love grow cold, they have decided to flood the world with agape. It was a sacred privilege to participate in the love that flowed freely throughout the evening.
Thank you, Sadie, and all of your friends at Joyful Abilities, for bringing the warmth and light of agape love into our cold and dark world. You are precious in the sight of God and to us! Merry Christmas!
