What's love got to do with it?

What's love got to do with it?

Tina Turner has a song with the title, “What’s love got to do with it?”  Every time I hear it, I'd love to ring her up so I could give her my answer. What does love have to do with it, you might ask? Well  let me tell you, love has absolutely everything to do with it.

'But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.'

1 John 4:8 NLT

The first thing we have to realize is that if we accept the existence of love, we must also accept the existence of God. Without God in the equation, there is no such thing as love. Love doesn't work without Him; it just doesn't have the capacity to function on its own.

Next we must see that God is not only love, He also set the standard as being the example we need to follow. As His children, we should desire to imitate Him in all that we do, therefore love becomes a natural extension of our lives.

'Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children. Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.'

Ephesians 5:1-2 NLT

When we filter ourselves through Jesus’ love, great and marvelous things are opened up before our eyes. We begin to understand people and the trials they face much better, we start showing more patience and compassion toward them, and our desire to help them overflows into acting as Jesus' hands and feet for them.

 'But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.'

Romans 5:8 NLT

So, we know that God is love, we know we should follow His example to live a life of love, and finally, we need to learn what real love is. In order to find it, we need to look no further than what Christ did for us on the hill at Calvary. When He was raised up on the cross and hung there to die for our sins, He showed what sacrificing in the name of love truly is. He loves us so very much that He was willing to give His life for us. That is the greatest love we will ever know. Love is the reason He did that, love is the reason God sent His Son to die for us.

 'We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us.  So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters.'

1 John 3:16 NLT

The next time you hear Tina Turner sing "what's love got to do with it," remember that in our Christian life, love has everything to do with it. Without love, we would be just a noisy gong or clanging cymbal, but with Him we have the capacity to change the world. 

'If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.''

1 Corinthians 13:1-3 NLT

Please pray with me:

Dear Heavenly Father;

This world is so full of selfish love and hate.  We know that others look to us for the truth, so let us lead by example and show them what true love is.  We want to always imitate Your love, and we know in order to do this we have to keep our eyes on You.  Father, the truest form of love was when You sent Your Son to die for us. We are so thankful for this gift that we want to write it on our hearts so we may never forget it.
For it is in Your Son Jesus' name that we pray,
Amen

Salina Gibson


This devotion is linked to these devotions and

 King & Country performing an acoustic version of

"The Proof of Your Love" posted by kloveradio

Learn more about the band and read the lyrics at http://www.klove.com/music/artists/for-king-country/.

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