01/24

Super Love

“…the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” Romans 5:5

If you are familiar with the fictional story of Superman, compare Lois Lane with the Man of Steel. Whatever kind of strength Lois Lane has, she has human limitations, but Superman has super powers that help him to be faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. In the movies Superman has powers that go beyond human ability.

In real life, the Christian has a super power too. It is the power of the Holy Spirit, a power that causes us to live SUPERnaturally. It is a power that help us to go beyond our human limitations and live in a strength that is not our own. This is how the Christian can produce God-like characteristics known as the fruit of the Spirit – love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, and gentleness. We don’t naturally produce these qualities; we rely on the super power of the Holy Spirit.

When it comes to producing love, we have to understand that God’s kind of love and the human kind of love are not the same thing. Human love can be described as caring for someone with affection, befriending someone, or having a romantic interest in someone. Even though these relationships can be meaningful, they do not compare with the God-kind of love. The best description of God’s love is found in I Corinthians 13 in the Amplified version. Here is a portion of it, “(4) Love endures long and is patient and kind; love never is envious nor boils over with jealousy, is not boastful or vainglorious, does not display itself haughtily. (5) It is not conceited (arrogant and inflated with pride); it is not rude (unmannerly) and does not act unbecomingly. Love (God’s love in us) does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self-seeking; it is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong]. (6) It does not rejoice at injustice and unrighteousness, but rejoices when right and truth prevail. (7) Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening]. (8) Love never fails [never fades out or becomes obsolete or comes to an end]…”

It is only natural for a person to feel selfish, weary, jealous, or proud. It take a supernatural power for any of us to love like God loves, and we have that power!

Application: Ask God for His super power of love to work through you!

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