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This is Love!

Subhead
Built on a Rock
By
Pastor Gary Klatt, St. John Lutheran Church, Luverne, Minnesota

Happy Valentine’s Day!  May your day be filled with happiness and joy as you rejoice with all of the people that share your life.
This goes far beyond romance and gifts of chocolates. St. John writes in his first epistle (4:7-11), “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
This love is known as “agape” (godly) love. This love is more powerful than any other type of love in the world because it flows from God. It is an unlimited and unconditional love that is available to everyone. But it can only be known and received by those who believe in the God of the Bible. It flows continuously and freely to all who hear and believe the “Good News” of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world.
The Bible clearly illustrates that all people are sinners (Rom. 3:10-12) and have turned against God. But God has not stopped loving sinners and sent Jesus to be the Savior of sinners so that they might once again know how much He loves them. “This is love,” that God sent His Son, Jesus, to die in payment for the sins of the entire world. Forgiveness of sins and restoration into the family of God are gifts of that love of God.
Sinners who receive these gifts of God’s love by faith are filled to over-flowing with this godly love so that they can’t help but share this love with those whom they encounter in their lives.
Husbands love their wives with romantic gestures, forgiving words, and with words of encouragement and support. Wives love their husbands by doing the same in reverse.
Parents love their children by setting boundaries for their protection, by teaching them the Word of God, and by showing love with hugs and forgiveness. Children will show love in the same ways that they received love.
Godly love can be expressed in the workplace by showing respect, courtesy and honor to our co-workers. Godly love can be expressed in every relationship known to man but only by those known by God.
Valentine’s Day is a special day to show love, but for the people of God it is not the only day for showing God’s love. May your life be a daily reflection of the love that you have been blessed to receive so wonderfully and freely from God, your heavenly Father, and your Savior, Jesus Christ.

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