I’ll never give up!

Love today in our culture is defined differently from every person you might ask.

Love, however, was God's idea. Hosea is a case study in the God type love called “agape”. In chapter three of Hosea God commands Hosea to “go again” and love a woman who has cut his heart out by committing adultery.

It is important to know that Hosea was originally commanded to take Gomer as wife, who had a reputation for not being faithful.

Hosea and his family experiences were called to be living sermons to God's people. The Israelites had been unfaithful to the Lord generation after generation, and the Lord's heart was broken.

God was hoping his people would respond to the examples being lived out and would repent.

Back to Hosea. God loves Hosea and Gomer, the Lord commanded Hosea to love Gomer again as an example of how God loves His people.

God created and modeled true love. Real love is a commitment not based on feelings or emotions but a free will choice. Hosea was commanded to “love again” by choice.

We do not fall in love or out of love. When we make a decision to love the feelings or emotions follow our devotion or commitment.

When the feelings dry up, it is because we made a decision to stop loving.

God’s love is about covenant.

When we understand that God calls us to be like Him we will see marriages saved and families restored.

Covenant relationships are forever. God is committed to us for the long haul!

God was in fact inviting Hosea and Gomer to be like Him by modeling covenant relationships so the Israelites would see how much He loved His people.

God always tries to overwhelm us with kindness first to attempt to draw us back to Him. As a last resort, He will be forced to utilize “tough love” as discipline to bring us back (God is not into punishment - Jesus took all our punishment on the cross).

Join me in taking time to allow the love of God to change us. Let’s also commit to being like God our Father by loving like Him, with covenant love!