Music and art are effective teachers. We absorb the words to songs and images that touch us emotionally. Earliest teachings were taught in this way. Christians learned about the Lord and Jesus’ gift of salvation through hymns, paintings, and sculptures in the Church.

One of my favorite hymns heard in my church during the 1970s was titled “God is Love.” The profound lyrics are ones that run through my head reminding me of the foundation of who I am and how I should live. Unfortunately, I’m unable to find this soulful hymn anywhere online. There are others that are similar, but not the one with the words and melody I’m looking for.

The chorus is as such, “God is love, and he who, abides in love, abides in God, and God in him.” And here is the first verse, “By this shall all know that we are his disciples, if we have love one for another.”

The lyrics come from Scripture verse 1 John 4:16, “So we have known and believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them.” I love this song because it is the essence of Scripture, the essence of Jesus’ teachings, and the essence of God.

It is important for us to love God, as well (Deuteronomy 7:9, 1 Kings 8:23, Psalm 36:7, 1 Corinthians 8:3). God loves us so much, God incarnated in the human form of man, taught through words and actions, suffered, and died so that we may have eternal life (John 3:16, Galatians 2:20).

When Jesus was asked what the most important commandment is to follow, he responded, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:34-38), which is based in Hebrew Testaments (Deuteronomy 6.5). Jesus then added that the second commandment is to love our neighbors as ourselves (Matthew 22:39-40).

Researchers are divided in determining if love is a basic human emotion or a cultural phenomenon resulting from social pressures and expectations. They also classify the different types of love.

However, for those of us who believe that we are created by our God, we know love is innate. We are made from love and with love. All we need to remember is that we are to love God and each other. Everything we think, say, and do is to be based in love for one another and all creation.

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Photo: Fox River, Geneva, IL, 4/25/21

Midwest incoming invasion of the cicadas-“The Cicadas are Coming.”

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