Abide in Love

- Dr. D.G.S. Dhinakaran

The world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.
(1 John 2:17)

Beloved! In this transient world, he who does the will of God abides forever. The Bible says, “The world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever” (1 John 2:17). But there are certain things that we need to follow to live eternally.

1 Corinthians 13:13 says, “Now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” When we hold on to these three firmly, these will enable us to be deep rooted in Christ amidst our trials, tribulations and sickness.

There are two reasons for love to be the greatest among the three. We come across the first reason in Galatians 5:6, "Faith working through love." If we do not have love, faith cannot work. What about hope? "Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us" (Romans 5:5).

God's love, which is poured out in our hearts, gives us hope. Hence, without love, we do not get faith and hope. That is why, Apostle Paul said, "Though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing" (1 Corinthians 13:1-2).

Many years ago we had been to Canada and there we went to amusement place called “Sea World”. There we saw two huge dolphins of great weight in a large pool of water. They would perform many tricks to amuse the spectators. When asked to jump, they would jump immediately. If commanded to touch a ball, which is hung at ten feet high, they judge the distance carefully and leap out of the water and touch the ball. Do you know how they train them? The trainers keep a bucket of small fish with them and give some of them as food. Then they teach them tricks and command them to do them. When they finish performing the tricks, the trainers will give them some more fish. After eating the fish, they go back happily. These small fish make the dolphins obey the commands. Likewise, only the small fish 'love' makes 'faith and hope' work. Hence, 'love' is considered to be the greatest among the three.

We come across the second reason in Proverbs 10:12, "Love covers all sins." 1 Peter 4:8 says, "Love will cover a multitude of sins." Faith cannot do this. It is only by the love of Jesus Christ can a person be forgiven of his sins.

Once, Jesus Christ was invited by a Pharisee to eat with him. A sinful woman who knew Jesus was at the Pharisee’s house brought in an alabaster of fragrant oil. She sat at the feet of Jesus and wept. She then wiped His feet with her hair and anointed them with the fragrant oil. Jesus looked at the host and said, "Simon, the love shown by this woman, ever since she came to your house, melts my heart. Even I too want to show My love to her. Hence, I forgive all her sins." Since she loved Jesus very much, He looked at her and said, "Your sins are forgiven" (Luke 7:37,38). Yes, her love for the Lord made Him forgive all her sins in a moment.

Beloved! The Bible says, “Let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God”(1 John 4:7). So, let us love one another with the love of God for this is the will of God for us on earth. Then blessings and peace shall abound in our lives.

Prayer:
Loving Heavenly Father,
I thank You for Your great love and for the way it has touched my life. Thank You for empowering me, enabling me to do things I never thought I could do. You have allowed me to serve You, equipping me with Your Spirit, and filling me with Your love. Help me to act in love, speak in love, walk in love, and pray in love. Keep my emotions under the power of love, and make my thoughts loving ones. In Jesus' mighty name, I make this humble prayer.
Amen.


My thoughts here:
This *Love* is the love of God, not the human love, and not a love which could be understood by a human being. Its from the heaven. Heaven is the source for this love(Agape).
When we are saved, God pours into our hearts this love through His Holy Spirit.
When people turn from this love, they find it difficult to come back. They lose their faith level and hope relatively.
As precious and gentle the Anointing is, so is this Love. Therefore it should be guarded likewise.

Isaiah 49:15 (King James Version)
Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.