LOVE

LOVE is often undeserved but true love-loves anyways...

But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8

I often wondered what it truly meant to love. It’s funny how one searches their whole life to find that one person to complete you. We are always looking for it! We love our friends, our family, and eventually our spouse. Why do we love them? We love them because they love us! That is the simple answer. It’s true not everyone has a good relationship with their family, or friends, or maybe even their spouse. Yet, as a general rule we love because we are loved!

I'm sorry to say we have the wrong idea about love. True love is not about loving those who love us. It is about loving someone in spite of whether they will ever love us in return. This is the love of Jesus Christ. He showed this love when he came and died on the cross. He loved us not because we loved him but rather he loves us whether we will ever serve him with our love. Mind blowing isn't it? He loves the sinner, the saint, the murderer, the sweet lady from church all the same. See he came to die for every one and it’s up to us to accept his love. His love is not predicated on whether we ever love him back.

What does the bible say about love? Jesus declares that there is one God. I think he states there is one God so we understand there is only one we are to love with our heart mind and soul. This is the love we are searching for in our lives. Then Jesus says we are to love our neighbor as ourselves. Wow! I feel the reason for this commandment is so that we learn that love is unselfish and that if we love someone as we love ourselves then we can begin to understand the love of Jesus. When we love our neighbor we are demonstrating to others how Jesus loves us! When we can understand that love is not about ourselves and our feelings it is then and only then that we will ever know what it means to love.

And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these. And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he: And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.  Mark 12:29-33

Love is often not easy to undertake and there are many people who we do not deem worthy of our love. This often translates to people we feel are beneath us in social situations, in church situations or even in family situations. How do we learn to love like Jesus loved?

Three Examples of Love:

    1)  Love is servant hood. Love serves without expectation of anything in return. Love is serving one another in our actions, our thoughts, and mostly our words. I think that truly understanding the love of Jesus is by lending a helping hand to whomever, whenever, and wherever you are needed. This is the true definition of a servant. Do you have the heart of a servant? Here is what Jesus had to say about serving others.

When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.  Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?  Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?  Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal. Matthew 25:31-46- Love is serving!

   2)  Love is action. As we learned the definition of serving we can understand there is a principle that Jesus was trying to teach us. When we serve the least of these we are setting aside our own desires and serving those who need us. The principle when grasped let’s us truly understand that this is the love that Jesus shows to us every day. It is the love that he shed for us on Calvary and we then show that same love in our actions. And then our actions produce fruit.

Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him.1 John 3:16-19

     3)  Love is fruit. When we learn to become a servant and we understand that love is an action our lives produce fruit. Our lives when balanced in God’s love produce the fruits of the spirit but also the fruits of love.

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. 1Corinthians 13:4-7

This is where loving someone who doesn't love you back can be hard. It’s not easy to be patient or kind. We love to keep records of wrongdoings. It is ever so hard to trust someone who turns their back on us! But this friend is what we are commanded to do in our lives. This is the love of Jesus. He is teaching us to love like he loves. When we understand this love then we can truly know how to love our Jesus.

Why do we have to love like Jesus? Why does it matter? It matters because unless we love Jesus and understand his love we will always be searching for the wrong kinds of love in our lives. We will settle for less than best and then when the going gets tough then we will be on the look for the next best relationship in our lives. This goes for friendships, family and marriages.

At the beginning of this blog I said we were all looking for that special someone in our life to complete us. Well that was kind of a trick statement. There is no person in this world that can ever fulfill you. They may make you happy and you may live a life with them in whatever kind of relationship but ultimately they will fail you. And if you don’t have the tools for love you will walk away every time! You must grasp a hold of the love of Jesus and follow his examples of how we are to love. It is then and only then that we will understand his love and then we will be able to love those truly in our lives.

In saying all of these things I know people will walk in and out of our lives. And it often hurts it hurts so bad when they turn their backs on us. I have personally lost friends, family, and loved ones who have turned their backs on me. But that doesn't mean I have the right to not love them! I am commanded to love them with the love of Jesus Christ. I am to forgive them 70x7 and to release them back to God. True love is not in and of itself from you. It is principle based it, it is learned, and it only comes from understanding the word of God and his commands.

The best part!!!! When you understand and grasp this love you will have lasting relationships. You will be fulfilling the word of God. Then you will be in right relationship with God and man! How wonderful to know that the love we are all searching for is in Jesus, his ways, and his teachings. I implore you to practice these principles in your life. You will only be able to incorporate it into your life by prayer, reading the word, and fasting. True love is dedication and it is not to be taken lightly.

Start today! Begin reading the gospels this is where you will begin to grasp the love that I have spoken of in this blog. Take the time to pray and ask God to lead you into that love. And the biggest part of love is forgiveness even when the person doesn't deserve it! See Jesus loved us and died for us and us my friend did not deserve it but he did it anyways!

And just for the record- P.S. I love you! *Wink*