Glad Love
Our glad love for one another is empowered by the glad love God has for us in Christ.
“The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing” (Zephaniah 3:17).
Here at Immanuel, the fourth line of our membership covenant states, “We promise, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to walk in glad love for one another.” This calls us to go beyond merely tolerating one another and into the realm of delighting in one another. A culture like that is beautiful, but it could only happen in a universe where God Himself is like that. And that’s exactly what we see in Jesus. We are not merely tolerated. “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are” (1 John 3:1). The Apostle John is overwhelmed at the magnitude of God’s love towards us in Christ! He knows the heart of God is not humming along at maintenance levels. He does not see us as a burden. He does not see us as a chore but as beloved children. He sets his affections on us! He sings over us! There is nothing mediocre about his heart for us. And with a love that deep, we can have full confidence that his love for us will never diminish or change. Truly, as Spurgeon once said, “He who can claim for himself a share of the Father’s love, of the Son’s redemption, and of the Spirit’s care, need never be afraid that all the thievish hosts of hell shall rob him of his divine inheritance. For look ye here, brethren, what is there, to separate you and me from Jesus Christ’s love…” It is from that endless well of love that we promise, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to walk in glad love for one another.