Love. Love is interesting. We use love in many different contexts: I love coffee, football, concerts, this blue dress, a certain tv show, a dog, a friend, etc. In fact Love has become a common word such as cool that has lost meaning. We "love" inanimate objects, we "love" an idea, but what does love even really mean. Do we see it in our society? So often we get disappointed or let down by people that we love and we think they know better, or we get frustrated with someone because of how they react to things. However, the fact remains that God is love. So if God is love and love comes from God then those who do not know God cannot love in a true way, it's simply an imitation. Imitation sweeteners is just that an imitation of sugar, sure it tastes similar and some people can't tell the difference, but there is a large difference. Maybe we don't put labels on our love as imitation, but if we aren't in God then its just that imitation. Sure people can still say they love one another and do nice things but the problem is that our love as humans is imperfect, it's selfish. Hence why we get disappointed or let others down. But, God's love is another story. His love is patient, kind, doesn't easily anger, keeps no record of wrongs (oh yeah you know the part where Jesus died for your sins and cast them as far as the east is from the west...Now tell me why is it again we keep track of petty indiscretions against each other when the God of the universe gave you grace and saved you?), it's not self seeking, it doesn't boast.... you know what I'm talking about all those characteristics that describe love in 1 Corinthians 13 God exemplifies and demonstrates them on a daily basis, but we can't handle showing love when we stand in a line or drive down the street. Now I know what you're thinking, sometimes those people are annoying because they drive too slow or they aren't paying attention and I have places to be... Well, is it honestly worth getting upset or being rude? Why don't we instead pray for that person and for God to reveal himself in their life wherever they're at so they may see him. Love takes us off the pedal stool of ourselves. ***NEWSFLASH*** for those who didn't already know this life is not about you! How different would we live our lives if we actually took the time to love others? What impact would it make on those around us if we chose to love even when it's hard? (and trust me it's hard sometimes because you may not want to or you may have been genuinely wronged. but it's in those times that you have to remember to look at that person as God sees them, as one of his creations with a purpose- even if they aren't living it out at the moment). Look for opportunities this week to show God's love to others, and see what a difference it makes in your life. May we be people who seek God so that He can flow out of our lives.
"Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.
1 John 4:7-12
"If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,but do not have love, I gain nothing."
1 Corinthians 13:1-3
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