Church Word: Abiding

16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.
(1 John 4:16)

When reading the Bible, we encounter words that seem to only show up in Scripture, so we must be careful to understand them.

Think about righteousness, salvation, glory, sanctification, and discipleship. These church words get thrown around all the time, but they need to be defined in order to be understood.

Today, I want to think about the word abide.

Jesus says in John 15 that we are to abide in him and, if we do, we will bear much fruit. There is also a warning about failing to abide. As a result, it seems like this concept of abiding is very important to God.

But what if I don’t know what it means?!?!?

On the surface, abide can simply mean to comply with or tolerate something, but those definitions fall short of what is meant spiritually.

When Jesus calls us to abide, he is calling us to dwell with God, remain in God, and allow God to take up residence in our lives.

Abide carries a sense of relationship and intimacy that is not found simply by being around someone.

To abide in God is to develop a deep and dependent relationship with God. It is to live with God in some ways like I live with my wife and child. In our house, each person is known, cared for, listened to, and valued. Each person spends time serving, being with, and deeply loving the others.

We are called to abide in God, which is not some theoretical concept of praying certain prayers or reading enough verses.

Abiding is developing a daily relationship with God, not checking off a weekly item on our schedule.

What God is asking of us is quite simple:

Dwell in the fact that you know and believe that I love you.

I will never stop loving you.

I will never move from the position of love toward you.

Think about it.

Meditate on it.

Wake up remembering it and go to bed resting in it.

Allow my love for you to be the source of your strength.

Be overwhelmed by just how much I love you.

I have shared this before, but it bears repeating.

I have a saying with my son that starts out:

“I am never going to stop…”

And he knows the end because it has been said so many times that it is ingrained in his brain.

He says without fail:

“Loving me.”

God says to each and every one of us:

I am never going to stop loving you.

Dwell in that!