Love – the Gift that Keeps Giving

Photo by alleksana on Pexels.com

Love is probably the most over used word in the English language: romantic love, the love of family and friends, the love of animals, of money or possessions, power or sex, success or status. Valentine’s Day reminds to show love, especially to our spouses or significant others. Today I want to talk about the amazing love of God. He loved us so much He gave His only Son, so that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16). This is good news! We are adopted into the family of God, and we have a royal inheritance with Jesus. What amazing love this is!

Jesus gave His life for me–to take away my sins, the very thing that God doesn’t like in me. My response is to devote my life to loving Him in return–to love others. This is challenging in a world isolated because of a virus. When I venture out and look for people to make eye contact with, many of them are withdrawn, rude, or preoccupied with their devices. Sometimes it is hard to see people face to face, except for those in public service–clerks in grocery and department stores, food servers in restaurants or customer service representatives on the phone. Then I can express appreciation for what they do or share a complement in order to make a connection. I may not always have an opportunity to share God’s love, but it is my intent.

THINK ABOUT IT

John said this about love. “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters” (1 John 3:16).

Paul said, “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres” (1 Corinthians 13:4-7).

PRAY ABOUT IT

O Lord, teach us how to show compassion even in a closed world. Help us to connect with others to share your light and love. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Love Each Other

Photo by Olya Kobruseva on Pexels.com

Do you agree with me that the word “love” is the most overused word in the English language? We have romantic love, family love, brotherly love, the love of material things, the love of food, the love of power or money or sex. God is love and He has a lot to say about how we love in relationships. “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God” (1 John 4:7).

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 is the Scripture often used at weddings, but it can be translated into how we love others besides the people we spend our lives with.

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

THINK ABOUT IT

What if we put the name of “God” in every place where the word “love” is. Better, since we are His followers, what if we put our name in that place. I’ll use my name as an example:

Sue is patient and kind; Sue does not envy or boast; Sue is not arrogant or rude. Sue does not insist on her own way; Sue is not irritable or resentful; Sue does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Sue bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

To be honest, I fall short in too many of the ways listed in this Scripture. I need God’s help to love according to His standard. What about you?

PRAY ABOUT IT

Heavenly Father, thank you for loving us with a perfect love. Thank you for showing us how to love, but we fall short too often and we need your help. Let your love flow through us to those around us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.