Adopting a Love-Based Lifestyle
By Leslie Ludy
As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love.
John 15:9
When I was about 13 years old, I attended a worship service that included a powerful song about the love of God. As the words of the song echoed through the church, I suddenly had the clear realization that God could have chosen to let humanity go and never have tried to redeem them. Adam and Eve had rebelled against Him, they had disregarded all He had done for them, they had spit upon all He had given them, and they had believed the serpent’s lies about Him.
Any of these choices would have been more than enough reason for God to tell them, “You no longer deserve My love; I will leave you to an eternity without Me.” He had every reason to condemn them and all humanity as a result.
But instead, He made a way for us to be restored to Him, and it was a way that cost Him dearly — the sacrifice of His only Son. All because of His amazing agape love.
I was awed by that kind of love, and in that moment I was challenged to willingly offer my life to Him without holding back — without reservation — and trust the God who loved me like that.
The Bible tells us in Romans 8:32, “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?“
The God of the universe loves us. He wants the very best for us. It is always safe to trust the God who is love. He is the One who gave everything for us without holding back. Will we do the same for Him?
In John 15:9, Jesus makes a baffling statement: “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love.”
Think for a moment about the love the Father has for His only Son…
We are not only loved by the Father, but also by His Son. God’s love is perfect in every way. And this perfect love that God has toward His only Son is the very same love that Jesus has toward us. “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you…” (Jn. 15:9). This is an extraordinary reality! The King of all kings loves us with a perfect, infinite, unchanging, sacrificial, faithful love.
In Song of Solomon 2:4, we see a beautiful picture of this: “He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love.“
This is the love Christ has for us, His bride. He proclaims that His love for us is powerful, unending, eternal, unconditional.
Charles Spurgeon described the extraordinary love of Christ toward us this way: “On Calvary He set up an open proclamation, [written] in His own heart’s blood, that He loved His own even unto the end. He bids His ministers proclaim it to the world’s end, that many waters could not quench His love, neither could the floods drown it; and that neither life, nor death, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Being loved by the King of all kings in this way should give us extraordinary courage, confidence, and security. His love should fulfill us at the deepest level of our soul.
But in today’s world it is very easy to drift away from the reality of His love. That is why in John 15, Jesus tells us to be purposeful to “abide in His love.”
“Abide” in this context means to dwell, remain, continue, and refuse to depart from His love. When we do not walk in the reality of His amazing love, the enemy can convince us to make some heartbreaking decisions because we are seeking to fulfill our soul-level need for God’s love in something or someone outside of Him.
But when we abide in the reality of His love, we become catalysts for His transformative love to flow through our lives. Just like Fanta, who risked everything to reach a violent tribe; or Mary Slessor, who went where nobody else would go; or the missionaries to Africa, who packed their belongings in coffins as a symbol of their willingness to die for Jesus.
We are not all called to reach unreached people groups. And we are not all called to remote or dangerous parts of the world. But as Christians, each one of us is called to demonstrate the awe-inspiring agape love of God wherever He has placed us. He has called us to live a love-based lifestyle. Remember, this is the only reasonable and proper response to the extraordinary love He has demonstrated toward us.
Relentless love, heavenly love — the kind that we see in the lives of the men and women whose stories we explored earlier — goes deeper and farther than human love. It means seeing others as God sees them; as precious lives worth saving and sacrificing for, even if nobody else in the world deems them valuable.
It means tapping into God’s heart for the lost and the weak — whether that life is across an ocean or right in your own family.
Letting God’s relentless agape love flow through us means removing the safety cones from around our lives and making ourselves available to become Christ’s hands and feet to a world in need, even though it may cost us dearly. Is it worth it? We only need to be reminded of what Christ did for us to be sure about the answer to that question. (See Philippians 2:7–8.)
It’s easy to look at a life like Fanta’s or Mary Slessor’s and assume that they were “special Christians” — some of the rare few who had the capacity to love and sacrifice for others in an astounding and powerful way. But Scripture is clear that there are no “special Christians” — only faithful Christians.
We live in a world where self-absorption and self-protection is considered healthy and normal, and we are pushed toward a self-focused lifestyle at every turn. Yet we follow a Savior who walked a different path — a path of self-denial, self-sacrifice, and relentless love. And He asks us to follow in His steps. (See 1 Peter 2:21.)
The enemy wants us to believe that saying yes to this calling will lead to suffering and misery. But walking in the footsteps of our Savior, though difficult, leads to the greatest fulfillment we could ever find.
If you are hesitant to believe this fact, just study the lives of men and women throughout Scripture and in history who gave everything for the One who gave everything for them.
You will find that their stories are not marked by regret and woe, but by triumph and joy — even in the face of suffering or death.
Paul told the church at Corinth in 2 Corinthians 12:15, “I will most gladly spend and be expended for your souls” (NASB95).
When our hearts can sincerely echo these words, our lives will showcase the relentless love of Heaven, no matter how big or small our unique calling or task.
Maybe you already know what He has called you to; specific ways in which He wants to allow His relentless love to flow through your life. Or maybe you are not even sure where to begin.
My encouragement to you is to simply make yourself available to Him, starting right now … and watch what He will do.
He may work through your life in ways that don’t seem very exciting to this world. It might be a task that nobody else really notices or applauds. Like selflessly serving a family member who doesn’t even appreciate it. Or being an example to a co-worker who only mocks what you stand for.
But no sacrifice made for Him that flows from a heart of agape love is ever a waste. Even when you can’t see it, His love is working powerfully in the eternal realm.
Whatever burdens you have been called to carry today, whatever role He has assigned you, remember that His grace is sufficient to equip you for the task, even when it seems impossible. As Fanta’s story illustrates, God’s miraculous love can triumph through us when we are willing and available to receive it
Amy Carmichael wrote a beautiful poem that expresses what should be the heart’s cry of any child of God who understands and abides in the reality of His love:
Love through me, Love of God;
There is no love in me.
O Fire of love, light Thou the love
That burns perpetually.
Flow through me, Peace of God;
Calm River, flow until
No wind can blow, no current stir
A ripple of self-will.
Shine through me, Joy of God;
Make me like Thy clear air
That Thou dost pour Thy colors through,
As though it were not there.
O blessed Love of God,
That all may taste and see
How good Thou art, once more I pray:
Love through me — even me.
Let’s allow God’s extraordinary love to flow through our lives. There is no greater privilege we could ever ask for.
This article was originally published in Issue 48.
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