God is love

In the month of Valentine’s Day, the Very Rev Albert Bogle reflects on the love of God.

FEBRUARY, for some, is the month of romantic love.

Cards and flowers and gifts are given as tokens of love being received and expressed. I remember the excitement of looking for the postie on St Valentine’s Day while pretending, as an eight or nine-yearold not to be interested in romantic love.

The truth is we all want to be loved and in some way feel special. St Valentine’s Day is one of those days in the year that allows these feelings to be expressed and felt.

As followers of Jesus we, of course, long to go beyond the power of romantic and allow the love of God to change our hearts to become more loving in order that we might contribute in some way to changing the world around us – helping to make life better for those who find themselves on the margins is one way of expressing our love to God, as well as loving our neighbour.

Recently I read again Henry Drummond’s famous little book entitled The Greatest Thing In The World. Drummond rose to fame in Scotland in the 1880s as a biologist and an evangelist seeking to draw parallels with the natural world and the spiritual world. This slim volume is really a call to Christians to fall in love with Jesus and the church all over again.

It was first delivered as a sermon at the end of the 19th century. This was a time when there was conflict and mistrust among many in the churches in Scotland. The sermon made such an impact that he was asked to publish it as a book. It is an exposition of 1 Corinthians 13. What he wrote then is still relevant and timely for the church today, as we begin to try and discover what it means to be a reforming and mission-orientated church during an extended pandemic.

Drummond at the end of his book sets a challenge. He asks his readers to consider reading 1 Corinthians 13 at least once every day for an extended period of time.

In doing so he believed lives would be transformed and relationships renewed and Christian mission would become much more effective.

For Drummond agape love is an effect. It changes hearts, and minds and reconciles enemies. It changes perceptions and feelings. However, before there can be love, there requires to be a cause. He cites 1 John 4:19 as the reason for love being in our hearts. “We love him because, he first loved us.” God is love, he created us and redeemed us out of love. He suggests if we reflect the love of Christ we will be changed. We do this through practice, through living close to Jesus. As metal takes on magnetic properties when kept close to a magnet so we begin to take on the properties of Christ’s love as we walk close to him.

The greatest thing that could ever happen to the world would be if those of us who profess to be followers of Jesus recognised the love with which we have been embraced and in turn embraced others. According to 1 Corinthians 13 there is no need for the cards or flowers just an embrace that speaks of a love that simply says – because! ¤