Lesson 10. Growth in Love

How many songs have been sung about love! How many sermons have been preached! How many books have been written! How many hearts love has changed! And how many prayers for this gift ascend to the throne of grace. First John 4:8 says: “He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.”

When Jesus gave the commandment of love, He knew that many of His followers would not pay attention to it at first and would take it for granted. The Lord proclaimed this commandment again and again, and He gave it special emphasis. The very command to love one another already contains the promise that this will be possible—that God will give strength to everyone who consciously decides to obey this word. God desires us to love one another. He desires to see this gift within us. Love is not merely a feeling; Love is Jesus Himself within the human being.

If the commandment were expressed as it actually is—“Have God and give God to one another”—I believe Christians would have particular difficulties and disagreements in interpreting such a command. But when it speaks of love, the commandment becomes understandable even to a child.

“Does God want to give us love?” This is a strange question, but it is asked quite often and always remains relevant. The answer is affirmative: “Yes.” But why, then, is the question asked, “How can I receive it?” This means that not everything is so simple. If it were simple, there would be no need to teach it. You would ask, receive, and love. Although this is essentially how it is, a person must first grow to this point.

God longs for all of us to become perfect in love. When I make this the goal of my life, the Lord begins to lead me toward this goal and brings me to it.

In the world, as in my body, the law of sin and the law of the flesh dominate. From morning until evening, worldly principles attack us. We are taught that we must live for ourselves and do everything for our own pleasure. In return, however, a person receives emptiness. This emptiness does not satisfy the soul or bring peace to the heart, and when death knocks at the door of your life, fear comes.

But there is no fear in love. Love has set itself in opposition to the world and the flesh. Love reveals the true nature of God.

God hears every prayer for love and answers it. But we must understand a very important rule. If a child asks his father to make him an adult, he simply does not understand that this is possible but will be completely fulfilled only after he grows up and learns many things. When a person is born, no one asks why that person cannot walk, speak, or read. In exactly the same way, when a person is born again, it is wrong to expect perfection in love immediately. A person must grow to this point. Yet the pace of spiritual growth differs for every believer, and for some it may even stop. A person’s status or title is irrelevant, because perfect love is the fullness of growth and perfection for every believer.

Love is the deep knowledge of God within oneself. It is the complete harmony of life with Jesus; it is fellowship with the Holy Spirit; it is the abundance that is available only to an adult. When reflecting and speaking about love, we must not diminish it or reduce it to the intellect of a child. Love is the bond of perfectness. Colossians 3:14 says: “And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.”

Would you entrust a child to drive a car independently? Would you place a chainsaw in the child’s hands to cut down a forest? This is possible if your hand is also holding the steering wheel or the handle of the saw. God knows better than we do what to give and entrust to us, and at what time. Therefore, He leads us toward this perfection, but He leads each person in His Own way. My desire to live in love and possess it accelerates this process.

No one who plants a seed in the ground expects an immediate result from its growth—the appearance of fruit. The same is true of love. We must learn love and become perfected in it.

Sometimes, however, God seats each of us upon His knees and places in our hands the steering wheel called Agape so that we may experience all the power and beauty of this journey and desire to learn to handle Agape perfectly. But His hand also holds this steering wheel and is always ready to correct our course in order to protect us from an accident.

We have already entered this path, and the goal is clear. Shall we continue?

1. Please read Mark 4:26–29; Luke 2:52; 1 John 4:8; Ephesians 4:12–16; Psalm 31:19; Matthew 6:27; 1 Peter 1:8–9; and 2 Peter 1:5–8 in the light of our lesson.

2. What did you understand from this lesson?

3. Is Agape Love a gift from Heaven? Is it possible to learn it?

4. Does God want to give us Love?

5. Why did God not create beings who love and are incapable of doing otherwise, thereby excluding the possibility of a fall?

6. Do you enjoy loving?

7. How does agape love differ from the love that exists in this world?