Awaken Your God-kind of Love!

Life is so much better and so much more fulfilled when we are constantly rekindling our love for God. We were not created to go through this life without love and the most purest kind of love is the agape love that God loves us with. Agape love is a Greek word that refers to a pure, selfless, and unconditional love that is often considered the highest form of love.

Characteristics of agape love

Selfless: Agape love is a choice, not out of obligation or attraction. 

Unconditional: Agape love accepts others without expecting anything in return. 

Sacrificial: Agape love is willing to sacrifice for the good of others. 

Kind: Agape love is filled with kindness and empathy. 

Empathetic: Agape love extends the desire for the good of others. 

Non-envious: Agape love is not envious, proud, or boastful. 

In order to live our best life now, we need to awaken our God kind of love! Let’s look at what that means for us today!

Mark 12:28–34 (NLT)

28One of the teachers of religious law was standing there listening to the debate. He realized that Jesus had answered well, so he asked, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” 

29Jesus replied, “The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord. 

30And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ 

31The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.” 

32The teacher of religious law replied, “Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth by saying that there is only one God and no other. 

33And I know it is important to love him with all my heart and all my understanding and all my strength, and to love my neighbor as myself. This is more important than to offer all of the burnt offerings and sacrifices required in the law.” 

34Realizing how much the man understood, Jesus said to him, “You are not far from the Kingdom of God.” And after that, no one dared to ask him any more questions.

The Greatest Commandment is Love!

When Jesus was asked what is the most important of the commandments, He didn’t rattle off one of the ten commandments or one of the requirements of the law. He said loving God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength and to love your neighbor as yourself. The kind of love that God has for us is the kind of love we need to have for others. We are not supposed to be judgmental or think we’re all that, we need to be loving even to those we don’t agree with or those that are the worst. This past week, some of the pastors I know in California that serve in the same capacity I do in Hawaii shared that they see many of their church members, many believers who for years have been ministering to people, sharing the Gospel, leading people to Jesus, loving the unlovable, building churches and just loving unconditionally go out this past week at help those in need, even though they themselves, in fact, hundreds of them have lost everything in the fires. The circumstances doesn’t stop us from following the two greatest commandments. Love God, love others.

Revelation 2:1–7 (NLT)

1“Write this letter to the angel of the church in Ephesus. This is the message from the one who holds the seven stars in his right hand, the one who walks among the seven gold lampstands: 

2“I know all the things you do. I have seen your hard work and your patient endurance. I know you don’t tolerate evil people. You have examined the claims of those who say they are apostles but are not. You have discovered they are liars. 

3You have patiently suffered for me without quitting. 

4“But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love me or each other as you did at first! 

5Look how far you have fallen! Turn back to me and do the works you did at first. If you don’t repent, I will come and remove your lampstand from its place among the churches. 

6But this is in your favor: You hate the evil deeds of the Nicolaitans, just as I do. 

7“Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches. To everyone who is victorious I will give fruit from the tree of life in the paradise of God.

Looking Good Isn’t Loving Good!

This Church at Ephesus did everything right. They did hard work, had patient endurance and didn’t tolerate evil people. They did everything “right” and even suffered for Jesus and didn’t quit. They were a really solid church! But the complaint God had against them was, you guessed it, they lost the more important thing, love. Love for God, their first love and love for others. Doesn’t that sound familiar. Are we working so hard at being so right that we jeopardize our relationship with God because we have become legalistic?

Luke 10:38–Luke 11 (NLT)

38As Jesus and the disciples continued on their way to Jerusalem, they came to a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. 

39Her sister, Mary, sat at the Lord’s feet, listening to what he taught. 

40But Martha was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing. She came to Jesus and said, “Lord, doesn’t it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me.” 

41But the Lord said to her, “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! 

42There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.” 

Being Busy Isn’t Loving God!

Mary welcomed Jesus to her home and then got busy doing things to make His stay enjoyable by making a big dinner for Him. After all everything needed to be perfect for Jesus. So she was distracted preparing this dinner. Mary, her sister, meanwhile just sat at Jesus’ feet listening to what He was saying. Martha got mad and told Jesus to tell Mary to help. But instead Jesus told Martha that she was worried and upset over the details of a dinner while Mary found what was important, a relationship with Him. We need to all ask ourselves, are we so busy doing, doing, doing and getting worried and upset in the doing that we miss it? Are we spending time nurturing our relationship with Him? That’s where we begin to awakening our God kind of love! Spending time with Him and listening. Not telling Him what we think His word says, but listening.

1 John 4:7–12 (NLT)

7Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. 

8But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 

9God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. 

10This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. 

11Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. 

12No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us.

God’s Love Awakened in Us, Reveals Our Unseen God!

When we love God and love each other the way Jesus commanded us to, people who don’t believe see God in us and can turn to Him! We must awaken our God kind of love. The same love that Jesus spoke about when He told the story of the Good Samaritan. When we love the unlovable the way God loved us before we loved Him, unbelievers will see God moving through us and turn to Him. God’s goodness is what causes people to repent of their sins. He’s a good God.

Romans 2:4 (NKJV)

4Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?

Let’s awaken the God kind of love in us!