1 John 3:18 (GNT) My children, our love should not be just words and talk; it must be true love, which shows itself in action.
B – Yikes, back to the ‘I love you’ – not just words and talk. How I have longed for the words and talk to be true even when the actions have contradicted. This is the essence of story, the disillusion, the deceit, the terror of knowing, soundly, truly knowing that words don’t matter as much as actions in this precious place and the words are spilled and fall like worthless, useless dirt, rock and grime when the jewels of the words remain locked away, not accessed.
Forever, I have longed for truth in these words and for a long time, even to now, I have been fooled by the robust, ripe meaning that is contained in rotten fruit, the spew has not been real. This is tricky revelation. Leading with love; being able to be true in my love words and be love in action too. Lord, I want your way in this.
Thank you for the release of trauma, for the unlocking of the latch of lie that kept the blinders on, for the ability to see at last the knee jerk, what I say, what I hear, what someone spews automatically, does not reveal truth overflowing from their heart but rather the actions are true. The truth is from some ‘I love you’ means nothing. It is like trying to eat gravel when my body longs for meat, real food, real words, and they are not there.
Love is true.
The words are twisted.
He uses them for life.
he (enemy) uses them for death.
I AM says I am love.
The enemy says love and throws it around with no worth, no meaning, no purpose but to steal, kill and destroy.
That is a hard truth.
The truth of deception.
The truth of the lies that are used to woo us to a monster that is not for us.
I AM says love.
I AM says I love you.
I AM says love me.
I AM says show me with your trust and faith.
I AM is safe.
I AM is trustworthy.
I AM is not confusing, changing, hard to read or understand or contradictory.
I AM is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow.
I AM is love.
Love is I AM.
Love is pure, simple, clear, clean, righteous, selfless, others focused, open handed, generous.
Love is His way, given freely and without strings.
Love is unconditional.
1 John 4:6-8 We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood. Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
1 John 5:2-4 This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.
1 Corinthians 13:4-13 (TPT) Love is large and incredibly patient. Love is gentle and consistently kind to all. It refuses to be jealous when blessing comes to someone else. Love does not brag about one’s achievements nor inflate its own importance. Love does not traffic in shame and disrespect, nor selfishly seek its own honor. Love is not easily irritated or quick to take offense. Love joyfully celebrates honesty and finds no delight in what is wrong. Love is a safe place of shelter, for it never stops believing the best for others. Love never takes failure as defeat, for it never gives up. Love never stops loving. It extends beyond the gift of prophecy, which eventually fades away. It is more enduring than tongues, which will one day fall silent. Love remains long after words of knowledge are forgotten. Our present knowledge and our prophecies are but partial, but when love’s perfection arrives, the partial will fade away. When I was a child, I spoke about childish matters, for I saw things like a child and reasoned like a child. But the day came when I matured, and I set aside my childish ways. For now we see but a faint reflection of riddles and mysteries as though reflected in a mirror, but one day we will see face-to-face. My understanding is incomplete now, but one day I will understand everything, just as everything about me has been fully understood. Until then, there are three things that remain: faith, hope, and love – yet love surpasses them all. So above all else, let love be the beautiful prize for which you run.
So there it is – true, real love. I want to lead with this love – in every interaction, in all areas – in every place and with every person, with no fear, no holding back, no judgment, no opinion, just love and some will embrace and some will reject but all will have encountered the one true God who is love – not by might, not by power but by my spirit says the Lord (Zechariah 4:6) – yes Lord, your way.
The lark of love flits,
dances through my day
words, gestures, actions
but truth – where it is, there is love.
The rest mocks, it disguises, it defiles,
it is not truth.
Knowing is by Him,
discerning is by Holy Spirit.
Loving anyway, His way, is Jesus in me.
I get to choose.
I choose well by His grace and for His glory
and I have eyes only for Him in all places and ways.
I choose you God.
Your infinitely, eternally, better way.
Always and forever. Amen.
Excerpt from An Encourager’s Heart