Becoming A Loving Person

I recently read a quote about love by the late Dallas Willard:

“Love is not something you choose to do; it is what you become —- a loving person.”

And how is it we become “a loving person”? I believe the apostle John, in his first epistle, gives us the way:

“Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. We have one to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.” (1 John 4:15,16)

We become a loving person by “abiding” in the loving God. We abide in Him by giving our lives to Jesus Christ, confessing Him as our Lord. Abiding in Him, remaining in Him, staying in close relationship with Him, we receive the love He has for us through Jesus. We imbibe it. We get filled up so that we can “ooze” that love everywhere we go. We become a loving person, almost without trying because that is just who we are. The apostle John goes on to write that the tell-tale sign that we have the love of God is that we love others. He writes “Love one another” over and over again.

This is a quote from Jerome’s (an early church father) Commentary on Galatians:

The blessed John the Evangelist lived in Ephesus until extreme old age. His disciples could barely carry him to church and he could not muster the voice to speak many words. During individual gatherings he usually said nothing but, "Little children, love one another." The disciples and brothers in attendance, annoyed because they always heard the same words, finally said, "Teacher, why do you always say this?" He replied with a line worthy of John: "Because it is the Lord's commandment and if it alone is kept, it is sufficient."

Abiding in a loving God, we have the resources within us, in the Holy Spirit, to love one another.

Beloved, let us love one another.