What L.O.V.E Means To You?
Copyright © 2006  Heaven Ministries

I see love in God's words of life. Let me show you what I see. God, the Creator of all humanity loved us the minute He created us in the Garden of Eden, and He has not stopped loving us. God brought us the formula of how to love through His Son Jesus Christ. It is by accepting love and loving others that we are saved. We do not love others first. We have to accept love before we can truly love another. 

"I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them." 
(John 17:26 NIV) 

Once we accept Jesus Christ into our lives we are given the power to love others the way He has loved us. If we are Christ followers then we are called to love others and to do the work that God has sent us to do. True Christians are to be the light of the world and to love one another. (Matthew 5: 13-16 NIV) 

L = Love 

Before we can love others in the right ways we must first love God with all of our heart and mind. There is no other way to love genuinely except through the source of where we came from. I am referring to God's children. The children of God all have the resources available to them for loving others in the way Jesus Christ has loved them. 

"Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God because God is love. (1 John 4:7-8 NIV) 

O = Omnipotent 

There is only one omnipotent being of the world. God's invincibility has the power to change your life. Because God is love and we are His children then we too can become love if we work off of the love God has freely given us. Accept the truth for your life and watch your life transform. 

Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. (Colossians 3:12-13 NIV)

V = Vine

Jesus Christ is the Vine. It is only through the Vine that we are saved. The Vine is our life-giving power. We must go through the life-giving power to make it into Heavenly Paradise. Those who claim to be believers of Jesus Christ are the branches on the Vine. God is the Gardener who takes care of the branches to make them fruitful. The true followers of Christ produce much fruit for the Kingdom. Branches that do not produce fruit are cut from the Vine. 

"I am the vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. (John 15:1-4 NIV)

How will you know if you are producing fruit or not? Are you loving others the way Jesus Christ has loved you? Have you brought joy and happiness into other's lives? If you are loving others the way you are commanded to love them, you are being fruitful. See also (2 Peter 1:5-8) for additional qualities of a Christian. 

"I am the vine; you are my branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned." (John 15:5,6 NIV)

E = Eternal Life

God paid dearly with the life of His Son. Jesus accepted our punishment and paid the price for our sins. If we truly believe in Christ as our Savior then we have been offered a new life that Jesus bought for us! Eternal life in Heaven has no sickness, sin, death enemies, or evil. To receive this new life all we have to do is believe in what God says. We need to have faith to trust that what God says is true. When we believe with all of our heart and mind we will be given the faith to believe in Jesus Christ as our Savior. 

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. (John 3:16,17 NIV) 

Love + Omnipotent + Vine + Eternal Life = L.O.V.E

Questions For Couples

What must we do to truly love others? 

Is it possible to love others without wanting anything in return? 

For one week write down how you can truly love your spouse unconditionally, meaning without any self-centered and selfish expectations. Write down your daily behavior and actions. If they are actions based on principle rather than a feeling than you will be loving unconditionally.

Monday:

Tuesday:

Wednesday:

Thursday:

Friday:

Saturday:

Sunday:

Do you notice a difference in your spouses behavior because of the way you have loved them?