The Four-Letter Word

Jesus is not a crutch. We were dead in trespasses and sin. We needed a Savior.

Today the four-letter word is love—agape, the God-kind of love. It is not a feeling. Feelings come and go. Agape is a decision. God chose it when He sent His Son. Husbands are called to choose it toward their wives. We are called to choose it toward one another, no matter what the other person does.

John 13:34 is a new commandment: love one another as I have loved you. The Old Covenant said “thou shalt not.” The New says “thou shalt.” Love does not stop at not hurting someone. It reaches out and helps. Greater love has no one than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends—not only die for them, but live for them, setting aside his own wants day after day. That love is of God. We love because He first loved us. Nothing—tribulation, death, life, or anything else—can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. The only thing that keeps anyone from it is refusing to say yes.

Scripture References:

Ephesians 2:1, 4–9

John 13:34–35

1 John 3:14–16

John 15:12–14

1 John 4:7–11, 19

John 14:21, 23

John 6:28–29, 39–40

John 3:16

Hebrews 2:1–4

Romans 8:35–39

Also: Ephesians 5:25 (husbands); Matthew 22:37–39; Romans 5:8

Keywords:

love is a choice, agape, as I have loved you, John 13:34, love one another, lay down your life, we love because He first loved us, nothing can separate us, Romans 8:38