I received this from www.tangle.com yesterday. It was put together by that great evangelical institution called Starbucks. They have put together a website called www.starbucksloveproject.com and features this tagline on google: “Love changes everything – including the world. Help me save lives by joining an unprecedented global event.”

I certainly can’t argue with that. Love does change everything. The problem is that most of the world is busy trying to figure out WHAT is love. The real question should be, “WHO is love?” The Bible gives us the answer:

1 John 4:16-18 (NIV) – God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

Who do we need? God! Why?

John 3:16-18 (NIV) – “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.”

Romans 5:8 (NIV) – But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

1 John 4:7-12 (NIV) – Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

What should be our response?

Mark 1:15 (NIV) – “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!”

Mark 12:29-31 (NIV) – “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’There is no commandment greater than these.”

John 14:21 (NIV) – “Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.”

John 13:34 (NIV) – “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”

Ephesians 5:1-2 (NIV) – Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Luke 6:27-36 (NIV) – “But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you.”

“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even ’sinners’ love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even ’sinners’ do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even ’sinners’ lend to ’sinners,’ expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”

Starbucks asks, “Can an individual save the world?” Yes, an individual can, my friend. And HE did! God saved the world of believers through the atoning sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ. And He gives all who repent and believe in his Son the deposit of the Holy Spirit to be our guide to empower us to be Ambassadors of Christ and lead us to glory.

All we need is God! Know God, know forgiveness, know redemption, know grace, know love.