God is love (1 John 4:16) and if Jesus is the exact representation of God (Hebrews 1:3) then Jesus also is love. So, His agreeing to go to the Cross for the sins of the world must be seen as a free act of unconditional love, both towards the Father and Mankind: ✞= ♥. 

I am longing more and more to love like Jesus. The deeper Holy Spirit takes me into Father’s heart, the greater the desire I have for selfless love. Just the other day, I was in the shower singing worship songs to God and praying (for me, showering the dirt off my body is always a good physical reminder of the spiritual reality that God is continually purifying my heart) when I felt Holy Spirit ask me: ” Are you satisfied with how you love people?” When I heard the question, I almost began to cry because truth be told, I’m not. I am so aware of my weak love and the desire to want to prove my love. But, true love is bold and never feels the need to prove itself because true love is secure and loves without question. True love just loves. That’s the kind of love that I see Jesus modelling when I read the Gospels. He engaged in relationships that transformed people: True love compels a person to risk and endure beyond themselves.

Prayerful intercession is an example of true love in action. When I pray for others, I am sacrificing my time (both with God and others) in order to cry out to God on behalf of another. Let me explain, I see prayer as a time to let God directly love on me. So, oftentimes I will spend most of my prayer time alone before God with an open heart and a quiet mind,  eagerly listening for His Words of grace and to feel His heart towards me. So, when I spend time in intercession for others, I sacrifice my time with God (where He loves on me) and with others (because I am alone). That’s why I believe there needs to be a good blend of talking with and listening to God. My times of listening fuel my intercession. The more that I understand God’s heart and mind towards me, the way He feels and thinks about me, the greater this increases my capacity for true love. His love sets my heart free.

I need to constantly remind myself that God knows all the burdens in my heart and life and that God not only loves me, but He likes me, too! He loves spending time with me. This is not to say that I don’t spend time telling Him my burdens, but I find it much easier to be in constant communication with God throughout my day, rather then at set times. When a situation arises I don’t wait to tell God about it later, I let Him know right there what’s going on with me in the moment and oftentimes I will ask Him to  intervene. So, in the moments that I actually get to be alone with God, I spend that time listening. I trust that He has heard every prayer offered to Him, either vocally, mentally or within my heart alone, so far in my day. I try to remember that God is God and that He does hear all my thoughts and heart cries and so I wait to hear His words of encouragement, guidance, comfort and blessing. I believe with all my heart that God desires good for His people, but too often we spend way too much time talking, rather than listening. 

In my desire to love more like Jesus, I believe that spending more time just listening to Father’s heart and mind towards me, the way He feels and thinks about me, will strengthen my weak love and lessen my desire to want to prove my love. I will just simply love. The more I receive God’s love, the more His love will transform my love to be more like His true love. How often do you spend time just letting God tell you just how crazy in love He is with you?