Giving Love Away
by Tammy Iund Woodard
Monday - 12.21.20
LOVE. That word packs a punch, right? So many definitions. I mean how do I write on love?
God has walked me through a season of showing me the power of love. I’m going to show my age because every time I think or state the phrase The Power Of Love, I break out in the 80’s song from Back to the Future. Anyone else? Are you singing it now?
So many directions we could go with this. But I find myself going back to the word of God. What does God say about love? He has a great deal to say about it. You probably think I’m going to refer to John 3:16, right? Nope. 1 John 4:10 is actually one of my favorites: In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. I LOVE this verse. It reminds me that God loves me even when I don’t get it right. It reminds me that God loving me is not predicated on my choices, my behavior or me getting it right every time. I don’t know of a better time to be reminded of that than in 2020.
ADVENT. “The arrival of a notable person” is the dictionary.com definition of advent. A time, in this year of crazy chaos, to remember that the very embodiment of love came. He came for me. He came for you. He loves me. He loves you. Do you know how I know he loves you? 1 John 4:10, because your actions have nothing to do with his love for you.
Love truly is a powerful experience. I was newly divorced and single parenting. I was angry. I was bitter and I was so incredibly broken. Well meaning people liked to say things like, “God is your husband.” Which is biblical but really holds no meaning when you’re in the depths of despair. I was there. One day, I was on my porch, standing on a milk crate, changing the light bulb of my porch light. Apparently I didn’t own a step stool. It was raining, but I guess I decided the light bulb needed changing right then. There was a glass cover on the bulb and the bolts were stripped. I was reaching, with a flathead screwdriver in hand, when the screwdriver slipped, stabbing me in the hand and I fell to the ground. I was cold. I was wet. I was bleeding. I was whatever the strongest word/emotion you can think of for angry. I looked up to the sky and I screamed, yep screamed, “GOD, YOU SUCK AS A HUSBAND!”
For some, you may have just sharply inhaled and thought, “Did God strike her down?” Nope, He did not. What happened next was nothing short of miraculous. I picked myself up and I walked into my living room. I don’t remember anything about what occurred next, except I found myself face down, in the carpet, in my living room, crying out to God. I railed about all my frustrations, disappointments and my anger at Him. Do you know what happened next? The most tangible presence of love filled my home like nothing I have ever experienced before or since. It was thick. It smelled sweet. It was warm and enveloping. It was like a literal, tangible hug from God. It melted me. I just layed there and wept and wept. I didn’t feel condemnation. I didn’t feel reciprocated anger or frustration from God. I felt unconditional love. A love of a father for his daughter. It was truly incredible.
I got up from that time and my circumstances hadn’t changed a bit. As a matter of fact, I still had to figure out how to change the light bulb. But I had changed. I knew God was with me. I knew God understood me. I knew God didn’t condemn me. I KNEW God loved me. And I knew God’s love wasn’t based on my behavior. That revelation broke chains off my soul.
Joseph was an example of that unconditional love in the Advent story. Joseph had every right to stone Mary when he found out she was pregnant. (Matt 1:18-24) But Joseph loved Mary and he trusted in the word of God from the angel. Now we see in John 3:16 that the child was God’s only son. Sent here by God to save us. God knowing all along the choices we’d make. Yet, He sent His only son anyway. Unconditional Love.
What does the bible say about Christ Followers and our love? John 13:35 (NLT) - “Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” Our love for one another. Our love isn’t to look like the world’s love. It isn’t conditional. It isn’t based on behavior. It’s based on the perspective of eternity, forgiveness and reconciliation to Christ. We have received the unconditional love of God and so we give the unconditional love of God. We are a conduit of God’s love.
Call to Action
Pray and reflect on the following passages this week:
1 Corinthians 13 - read and reflect on the entire chapter
1 John 4:16 NLT
16 We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.
1 John 3:16, 18 NLT
16 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. 18 Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions.
Reflection:
As we near the end of 2020, it’s a great time to reflect on these questions:
Have I truly accepted the unconditional love of my Heavenly Father?
What does your giving of love look like?
Did I give love this year? If I did, what did that look like? If I didn’t, how can I make a change in 2021?
