“We have come 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. By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.” (1 John 4:16-18 NASB1995)

What is this love being spoken of here? The Greek word is agápē, and it speaks of love which centers in moral preference, which prefers what God prefers, which is all that is holy, righteous, morally pure, upright, honest, faithful, and obedient to our Lord and to his commands. For God is love, and so he is holy, righteous, honest, and faithful in all that he is and does. And so the love which he has for us is also pure, upright, and godly.

So, how was God’s love for us demonstrated to us? God the Father sent Jesus Christ, God the Son, who was the only begotten Son of God, to the earth, to be born as a baby to a human mother, but conceived of the Holy Spirit, and not of man. So he was not born with a sin nature as we are. And when he lived on the earth as God incarnate (in the flesh), he never once sinned. And so he became our perfect lamb sacrifice for our sins.

And in Jesus’ death on that cross, and in his bodily resurrection, he made the way for us to die with him to sin and to be raised with him to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin, but as servants of righteousness in walks of obedience to our Lord and to his commands. By God-persuaded faith in our Lord Jesus we can now walk in freedom from bondage (addiction) to sin and live holy lives, pleasing to God, in his power.

So, if we who profess Jesus Christ as Lord and as Savior of our lives abide in his agápē love, it means that we are acting in accordance with his love. We are upholding, obeying, and conforming our lives to all that is of God, and to all that is morally pure, honest, faithful, and obedient to our Lord and to his commands. We are no longer walking in sin, making sin our habit, but now serving our Lord and doing his will, in his power, is what we live for.

Therefore, we have confidence on the day of judgment, not because we gave lip service to God and made a verbal profession of faith in Jesus Christ, but because, by God-persuaded faith in our Lord Jesus, we were crucified with Christ in death to sin, and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin, but now as servants of our Lord and as slaves to his righteousness, by his grace and in his power.

So for those who have given only lip service to the Lord, and whose lives are not surrendered to the Lord in walks of obedience to his commands, but who are still making sin their practice, living to please the flesh, and not living to please God, they do not have the hope of salvation from sin and eternal life with God, but the dreadful expectation of eternity in hell. For they have rejected the truth of God’s word and have chosen to believe the lies, instead.

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:1-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22]

You Loved Me

A song based off the poem by the same name @ Original Works
Music and lyrics by Sue Love @ Original Works & Tosin Iyawo Ogaga
Vocals by Tosin Iyawo Ogaga & Sue Love
An Original Work / December 3, 2019
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

When I was lonely and afflicted,
You were there to pick me up.
You took me in Your arms,
And You held me tenderly.

Your love embraced me.
Your grace sustained me.

When my heart cried out to You
In my fear and my despair,
You never turned away,
But You let me know You loved me.

Your grace forgave me.
You did not shame me.

Then, when I answered the call,
“Here, Lord, send me.”
You sent me to where I must be.
Your mercy held me, did not fail me.
All this, You had planned, to use me.

And, when all trials and scorn
Came to test me.
You gave me all that I would need.
You strengthened me so I’d not fail You.
Your kindness blessed me, it touched me.

And, when I needed the church
To lift up me,
To hearten me so I’d not fail,
You blessed me with folks who would love me.
Their presence with me, Your praise hailed!

And, when I walked through the valley
Of the shadow of the death,
And tears flowed from my eyes,
Still Your kindness was there for me.

Your touch, it healed me.
For I believed You.

When now I think about the ways,
Of the many, many ways
That You in Your great love
Show me that You’ll always care for me,

My heart, it thanks You,
And gladness fills me, fills me.

The Love Which God Has For Us
An Original Work / February 22, 2026
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love