First, we see that it is not like the world's idea of love, which is always taking, what’s in it for me and if I don’t get what I want from you then I don’t love you. What God said was John 3:16 “For God so loved the world He gave his one and only Son…” God gave the very best that He had, Jesus, who is pure love. And He gave Him when we were undeserving and undesirable. Colossians 1:21 “Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now He has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in His sight, without blemish and free from accusation..” It just amazes me how God gave Jesus for us as sick and sinful as we are. But then I think of man and how when we want someone or something, we are willing to do anything to get it. The only problem with man is once he gets it, he is not satisfied with it because he did not get what he imagined. He got the reality of another imperfect person. God knows us inside and out and He still loved us and gave His Son for us.

Secondly, love is sacrifice. It is something that is not normal or convenient, it goes against the natural. The giving of Jesus, the Son of God, the Holy One, to die for the sins of man is not natural. Hebrews 9:28: so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people. 1 John.2:2: He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. God’s lesson to us is that love is going to cost us something. It won’t be convenient and it will stretch us and take us out of our comfort zone. The greatest disaster with love is that in the natural we may not receive anything back. To pour out our love with no return is the greatest sacrifice. To remain in His love as we continue to reach out and give out of our heart even when it hurts is the cost of love.

Third and finally, love is eternal. It never ends. To finish John 3:16: For God so loved the world that he gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him will have eternal  life. We tend to live in a 'love you today, leave you tomorrow' type of society. But God’s Kingdom, God’s society, God’s kind of love lasts forever. He never stops loving. He never stops giving. He never stops caring. He never stops believing! 1 John 4:10-12: This is love; not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God, but if we love one another, God lives in us and His love is made complete in us. Romans 6:23: For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

There is a great move of the Holy Spirit sweeping across the world warming the hearts of people to a simple love of God because of who He is and what He has done. What better time for us to refocus our hearts on the love of God than this February, the month of L O V E !!!