Faith in Love

Studying about the word love the other day I notice how intertwined faith and love are. Many times in the scriptures they are mentioned together, as if dependant upon each other.(Eph. 6:23) Pondering on this I wondered, why must faith and love be demonstrated together? My answer came in 1John chapter 4 and 5. These chapters show the essence of love. What is it? How do we recieve it? And then of course, how do we display it? Really without fruits love is dead. Just as faith. How so?

The source of love is God, for he IS love.

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God, and everyone who loves has been born of God, and knows God. The one who does not love has not known God. For God is love. 1Jo 4:7,8

In this the love of God was revealed in us, because God sent His only begotten Son into the world that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation concerning our sins. 1Jo 4:9,10

No man has ever seen God. So how are we as humans suppose to know love? The Father gave us Jesus, He is the demonstration of God's love for us. The manisfestation of love that is undeserved. The essence of love.

Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwells in us, and His love is perfected in us. By this we know that we dwell in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. 1Jo 4:11-13

God loved us first, he sent his son to show us that love. And Jesus exibited the ultimate love. The sacrifice of himself. What more does a human have to show self sacrificing love? Except to offer everything they have, their life.

By having faith in God's love for us, faith in our Lord Jesus, we are able to have his spirit dwell within us. This spirit perfects our love, makes it pure and beautiful. His spirit within us brings forth fruitage, fruitages of the spirit. They are Love, Joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faith, mildness and self- control. What is interesting about these fruitages of God's spirit is that none can be displayed without love. That is why it is referred to as the greatest fruitage. Truely though, we cannot recieve this spirit without displaying faith in Jesus. For how can we produce true love without understanding what it is?

Love is described in 1Coritians Chapter 13

And if I am having [the gift of] prophecy and know all secrets and all knowledge, and if I am having all faith so as to be removing mountains, and have not love, I am nothing. 1Co 13:2


Faith and love must exist together.


And if I dole out all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I am burned, but am not having love, I am not at all benefited.1Co 13:3

Displays of self sacrifice without love as the reason is usless. For it is not a true reflection of our Lord without it being unselfish.

Love waits patiently; it acts kindly. Love does not envy [or, is not jealous]; love does not boast; it does not become haughty. It does not behave disgracefully; it does not seek its own [things]; it is not provoked [or, irritated]; it does not keep a record of evil. It does not rejoice over unrighteousness, but it rejoices with the truth. It puts up with all [things], believes all, hopes [or, confidently expects] all, endures all. Love never fails. But if [there be] prophecies, they will become useless; if tongues, they will cease by themselves; if knowledge, it will become useless. 1Co 13:4-8

Love believes all things. It has faith. To be able to show true love we must keep it unselfish, just as our Fathers' was, just as Jesus demonstrated his to be. We cannot show love on the basis that it must be returned. That we must see the results of our love to be able to give it to others. Jesus tried to teach us this in many illustrations. For example:

You have heard that it was said, "You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy." But I say to you, Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who despitefully use you and persecute you, so that you may become sons of your Father in Heaven. For He makes His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax-collectors do the same? And if you greet your brothers only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax-collectors do so? Therefore be perfect, even as your Father in Heaven is perfect. Mat 5:43-48

Perfect love. If we want to be perfect we MUST show love. By doing this we show we are his children. We reflect the qualities of Jesus, therefore having the father within us, and exibiting his love through ourselves. Our faith in God's love is now alive, because we provide that love to others.

Whoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwells in him and he in God. And we have known and believed the love that God has in us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him. In this is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment, that as He is, so also we are in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, because fear has torment. He who fears has not been perfected in love. We love Him because He first loved us. If anyone says, I love God, and hates his brother, he is a liar. For if he does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And we have this commandment from Him, that he who loves God should love his brother also. 1John 4:15-21

We have boldness on the day of Judgement because we have Faith in God's love, we have faith in Jesus. Perfect love is without fear. Fear is a lack of faith, and shows a weakening of love. Sometimes I feel people hold back their love, out of fear they may be hurt, or that it will not be returned. This is not perfect love. Perfect love is not dependant on it being returned, on seeing, because perfect love is based on the unseen, Faith. It must be given without condition. If we have love returned, it is a gift from God.

Faith in love, is based on what we cannot see, but know to exist. God is love. We cannot see him, but have faith in his son, whom he gave to us to show us his love. Through our faith in Jesus we also are able to have that love within us, and give it to others just as our Lord poured it out for us.