“Love is the only sane and satisfactory answer to the problem of human existence” (Erich Fromm).
Sin has become a tyrant of mankind; however, through the power of love, people can experience freedom from sin’s consequences, dependent on free will.
Two forces existed before creation: love (God) and hate (Satan). After the serpent lured Eve to sin, a sinful nature formed in the hearts of humanity, giving man the compulsion to sin. Unless harnessed by the power of Love, we will never be free from sin and hate.
Humanity has a sin problem that only the love of God can fix. Sin has tyrannized mankind, creating a hostile world where people struggle to remain free as we reap what we sow. When people sin, they fail to love, and when this happens, we hurt ourselves and often others, creating wounds, mistrust, fear, and unstable conditions. However, “the main problem in a person’s life is never his suffering; it’s his sin” (Timothy Keller).
When man sinned, it distanced man from Love. Because the “wages of sin” is death, humanity faces hell. Thankfully, Love chose the cross, giving free wills the opportunity to experience freedom again, depending upon their choices.
The perfect love of the Father chose Christ to be the world’s Savior. Those who believe in Jesus and choose to receive Him are justified forever, become children of God, and experience heaven instead of hell.
“The gospel is not just the means by which people get converted but also the way Christians solve their problems and grow” (Keller). When the unbeliever becomes a Christian, the individual experiences a relationship with God, and then the Holy Spirit enters his soul, giving the person a new nature having a capacity to love like Christ, dependent upon free will choosing to surrender to the Holy Spirit and not their sinful nature. To the extent that the Christian surrenders to the Holy Spirit, his love continually gets more perfected, and the more freedom the individual experiences, when many become Christians and are controlled by the force of love inside them, the greater the probability of increased societal freedom. Obeying God’s love commandments and relying upon the wisdom of the Spirit leads to sound decision-making; when the majority of society members habitually do this, it leads to societal advancement. Because we need the Spirit to help us not sin and make wise choices, and the Spirit only exists in the soul of the Christian, it is essential, if you desire a better world, to get people saved through the gospel.
“No one has ever been deeply changed by an act of the will. The only thing that can re-forge and change a life at its root, is love” (Keller).
“Love is power, the purest power and the greatest power: Love is God. Nothing can be higher than that. But this power is not a desire to enslave others, this power is not a destructive force. This power is the very source of creation. This power is creativity. And this power will transform you totally into a new being. It has no concern with anybody. Its whole concern is to bring your seeds to their ultimate flowering” (Rajneesh).
“God’s love can turn revenge into mercy, hatred into forgiveness, anger into patience, and fear into faith. God’s love can change pride into humility, selfishness into generosity, despair into hope, and hostility into peace.”
Characteristics of God’s Love
Unconditional love – Freely given, regardless of flaws
Eternal Love – Lasting and constant
Sacrificial Love – Supreme selflessness
Forgiving Love -Transformative compassion
Inclusive Love – Embracing all humanity
Transformative Love – Life-changing power
Protective Love – Shielding from harm
Patient Love – Steadfast waiting
Kind and Joyful Love – Extending kindness
Faithful Love – Trustworthy commitment
“The love of God is demonstrated by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ to make it possible for us to be forgiven and to become children of God. As children of God, we will also be growing in the love of God – loving as God loves.”
“God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect” (1 John 4:16b-17).
When people become Christians and choose to surrender to the Spirit, their love continually gets more perfected. For the sake of freedom, including saving lives from hell and improving life for people on earth, the power of love must be potent in our lives.
“One word frees us of all the weight and pain of life: That word is love” (Sophocles).
God has a purpose for you to make a difference in this world through the power of love.
Of all powers, love is the most powerful and the most powerless. It is the most powerful because it alone can conquer that final and most impregnable stronghold which is the human heart. It is the most powerless because it can do nothing except by consent” (Frederick Buechner).
Freedom requires us to choose love. Even when we choose to do nothing, we fail to choose Love.
“Your task is to build a better world,’ God said. I answered, ‘How?… this world is such a large, vast place, and there’s nothing I can do.’ But God said, in all His wisdom, ‘just build a better you’” (Unknown}.
God purposed every Christian to be a light for Jesus. We are to be His disciples, to love others as Christ loved us. We receive love from God by letting the Spirit control our lives as He leads and empowers us to love one another. When we do this consistently, the force of love flows through us, and our love shines brightly in darkness. Lives get transformed when free will surrenders to the power of love.
Love provides hope, giving people a reason to have faith; however, without faith, one cannot have Love and thus has no hope. When man rejects Love, they cannot become a Christian and thus has no hope. If Christians reject the love of the Spirit inside them, they become controlled by sin rather than being led by the Spirit. They don’t reflect the love of Christ, and the force of love is not working in their lives, and they fail to be a light that wins souls and gives hope to the hopeless. When Christians fail to love, others have less hope because they didn’t receive love.
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that” (Martin Luther King Jr).
“No three words have greater power than… ‘I Love You’” (Unknown).
“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.” (1 Corinthians 13:4-8)
How are we to love?
In Ephesians 4:32, Paul wrote: “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” Through kindness and patience toward one another and forgiving those who sin against us, we love like Christ and become His light.
Kindness is a fruit of the spirit, expressed through compassion, gentleness, and generosity toward others. Forgiveness entails offering grace and reconciliation, promoting harmony, and restoring relationships by letting go of grudges, resentments, and the desire for revenge. Patience helps us be kind and forgiving, especially when people sin against us. As we surrender to the Holy Spirit, He empowers us to do all three.
“Do all things with love” (Og Mandino). By consistently being kind, patient, and forgiving, we can positively impact the world around us, reflecting God’s love and bringing light to those in darkness. When the forces of love control society, relationships get strengthened as trust and decency grow, building stronger connections with its members. We need to start a ripple effect of kindness, patience, and forgiveness within our sphere, where people reciprocate to others the love we exhibit to them. As this happens, the power of love becomes increasingly potent in this world.
Live with intention. Start each morning by asking the Holy Spirit to guide and empower you each step of the day, to show you what your today’s purpose is, to make a change in this world through the power of love. Surrender your life to God. Dedicate each day to make a difference in this world. Even “a smile, a listening ear, or a helping hand can make a difference in someone’s life.” Love increases as we learn to share, give, and care.
We should all have the following mindset as we love our neighbor:
“But, in true love, your aim is to spend yourself and use yourself for the happiness of the other, because your greatest joy is that person’s joy. Therefore, your affection is unconditional: You give it regardless of whether your loved one is meeting your needs. And it’s radically vulnerable: You spend everything, hold nothing back, give it all away” (Timothy Keller).
Remember: the more consistently we surrender to the Holy Spirit daily, the more perfect our fruit of spirit gradually becomes.
“The essence of life is the power of love.” — Lailah Gifty Akita
Man’s path toward freedom starts with choosing Love.
“Your greatest power is to show love, to receive love, and to be love” (Oprah Winfrey).
“For above all, love is a sharing. Love is a power. Love is a change that takes place in our own heart. Sometimes it may change others, but always it changes us” (Eleanor Roosevelt).
“Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it” (Rumi). When you correct these barriers inside you that block love, the Spirit’s power of love within you will become a light, which can potentially transform the lives of those around you, whether it be an unsaved person and or someone struggling with hope, facing life struggles.
“Love is the most powerful force in the universe,” but it loses effectiveness when people reject it. Love can conquer anything except for the heart that blocks it. It cannot rescue sinners from hell if they don’t choose it. It cannot transform lives if people don’t surrender to it. People cannot live fruitful lives if they don’t obey its commands, and Christians cannot be the light that this world desperately needs if they don’t surrender to the power of love within the Spirit inside them. Freedom requires sound decision-making as man reaps what he sows.
“Love is within us. It cannot be destroyed. It can be ignored. To the extent that we abandon love we will feel it has abandoned us. Denying love is our only problem, and embracing it is the only answer. Through the power of love, we can let go of past history and begin again. Love heals, forgives, and makes whole” (Ernest Holmes).
“Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them, humanity cannot survive” (Dalai Lama).
Dig Deeper
10 QUESTION TO ASK YOURSELF EVERY MORNING |Dr. CHARLES STANLEY| Best Motivational Speech
Sources
https://medium.com/positivity-post/love-is-the-most-powerful-force-1a49853561e3