October 9, 2023
I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.—John 13:34–35
Love is greater than faith and hope (1 Corinthians 13:13)—but how is this love defined? People often associate love with emotional feelings, but these can be fleeting and come and go like the waves of the ocean. My love is much deeper, more steady, strong and sure, because love is My very nature. I am love (1 John 4:8).
The emotional side of love is a manifestation and token of My love that can help you to understand the depths of My love. But love based only on emotions can be like the waves of the ocean that are always changing, just as emotions are not always stable and do not always remain the same. People who experience emotional “highs” in love over time discover that love that endures requires sacrifice, giving of self, and laying down one’s life for another. They come to understand that love is a commitment, not just an emotion.
“Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:13). My love is unfailing and never-ending. My love is strong and sure and will stand the tests of time and the emotional ups and downs that you face in your earth life. It takes My love to tolerate others’ weaknesses, lacks, and idiosyncrasies, and to love others in spite of your differences.
Each one of you, My children, is filled with My Spirit of love. When you love another with My love, you will experience My joy and fulfillment. I do all things well concerning you, and as you keep your eyes on Me, and your foundation in My Word strong, I will work through you and cause the love you give to others to bear fruit.
Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. No 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.—1 John 4:11–12
If I have shown you to reach out to someone with My love and message, My Spirit will empower you to love them with My love. My love never fails, and what I have promised, I will perform. But you must also do your part to put love into action. Even if you don’t tangibly feel emotions of love, you can take action to show My love to others by faith.
True love must be judged by lasting results, not simply by feelings. Feelings may come and go; they may or may not be present, depending on the situation, the individuals, or how I am working in people’s lives. Feelings can be deceiving and are not necessarily an accurate gauge by which you can measure love.
How is true love manifested? Love is believing, helping, trusting, sharing, forgiving, understanding, uplifting, and encouraging one another. Love is a listening ear; it’s giving and caring. Love is sacrificial; it gives even when it hurts. It walks the extra mile.
Love is warm and kind. It is compassionate and identifies with the burdens and cares of another. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance (1 Corinthians 13:7). Love loves the unlovely and even your enemies.
There are many facets of love. The love I have put in your hearts for Me is eternal and to be esteemed higher than all the riches of man. My love in your heart is enduring love that will withstand the great tests and storms of life. My love for you is a pearl of great price!
Your love for Me has withstood the winds and storms of adversity that tried to blow it away. I know your hearts and I hear your prayers, and in My infinite love for you, I give you strength to persevere and keep loving through the difficult times. I help you to remain firmly anchored in the bedrock of My Word and Spirit even when you don’t immediately see the fruit of your love.
I have gifted you with the most priceless gift of My true, lasting love. My love is a love to nurture, a love to be cared for. Tend it carefully and do not let it diminish or die through neglect or allowing the cares of this world to distance you from Me. Many waters cannot quench this love that I have placed in your heart, nor can rivers drown it, for it is My love (Song of Solomon 8:7).
This great love you have in your hearts will never be taken away, for no one can quench such a love. My love will grow and flourish in your life, and as you pour out My great love to others, I will pour into you.
I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ.—Ephesians 3:17–18
Learn to live from your true Center in Me. I reside in the deepest depths of your being, in eternal union with your spirit. It is at this deep level that My Peace reigns continually. You will not find lasting peace in the world around you, in circumstances, or in human relationships. The external world is always in flux—under the curse of death and decay. But there is a gold mine of Peace deep within you, waiting to be tapped. Take time to delve into the riches of My residing Presence. I want you to live increasingly from your real Center, where My Love has an eternal grip on you. I am Christ in you, the hope of Glory.
There is no force in the universe as powerful as My Love. You are constantly aware of limitations: your own and others’. But there is no limit to My Love; it fills all of space, time, and eternity. Now you see through a glass, darkly, but someday you will see Me face to Face. Then you will be able to experience fully how wide and long and high and deep is My Love for you.
If you were to experience that now, you would be overwhelmed to the point of feeling crushed. But you have an eternity ahead of you, absolutely guaranteed, during which you can enjoy My Presence in unrestricted ecstasy. For now, the knowledge of My loving Presence is sufficient to carry you through each day.1
Originally published April 1998. Adapted and republished October 2023. Read by Jon Marc. Music by Michael Dooley.
1 Sarah Young, Jesus Calling (Thomas Nelson, 2010).
Copyright © 2024 The Family International