By Joab Cano
Have you experienced the love of God? The truth is that we all have experienced the love of God in multiple ways. Someone may ask: What is the love of God? The love of God is so great and magnificent that many times we can’t find words to fully describe it. However, the holy scriptures give us many details to try and wrap our minds around it. In a brief answer, the love of God is as 1 John 4:10 states: “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” What a profound statement! Before we did anything to love the Almighty, He had already loved us. Even before we were born, He had his eyes on us and His love was already present.
To begin, every morning that we wake up is a demonstration of the love of God. It’s a new opportunity that the Creator is giving us to search for Him. This is a beautiful manifestation of God’s love because as Christ said in Matthew 5:45, “For He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.”
Even if we have done wrong, He still allows the sun and rain to come as a blessing for us all. The Creator still provides us with the things that we need every day for our daily living. Therefore, it’s evident that His love is so great.
Furthermore, the greatest manifestation of the love of God is Jesus Christ. As it also states in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” Many people know this verse by heart, but if we stop to analyze and discern, it will bring a wealth of spiritual understanding. Who did God love so much? The entire humanity. How did the Father manifest His love for the world? He gave His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ.
Let’s reflect for a second on this action. How many of those who are parents would be willing to give up their child? Would you be willing to give up a child in exchange for the worst criminals in the world? I’m certain that it would be very difficult to find a single parent who would accept that trade-off. However, that is exactly what the Almighty has done. In the words of the Apostle Paul in Romans 8:31, “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all…” As a result, we all benefit from this grand manifestation of the love of God towards humanity.
Thus, our love towards the Creator must also be great and reciprocal. Now the question to ask ourselves is the following: How do I demonstrate my love to God? Is it enough to simply say, “I love God” or “I believe in God”? Upon these important questions, we can refer to what our teacher and master has taught us. How will one show their love to the Almighty? Jesus said in Matthew 22:37 “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” This is how the believer will show his love toward the Father. The disciples of Christ are taught to love God with an integral understanding and above all things. Our actions will demonstrate our love, not our words. It’s easy to express our love with words, but Christ taught us to demonstrate it through our actions and in a very specific way of living in this world.
To conclude, I would like to extend an invitation to visit a congregation of The Light of the World faith where one can learn how God desires for us to show Him our love. If you live in Juneau, we invite you to join us at: 1997 Dunn St. Suite No.3 any day at 6:30 p.m. God bless you all!
• Joab Cano is a missionary for The Light of the World Church.
