I have been reading through the whole 1 Corinthians 13 piece on love and what it means to love, and I am coming to the understanding that "I SUCK AT IT". If we are being totally honest with ourselves, many times our loves is circumstantial. We love because it fills a certain void in our lives, or because it makes us feel a certain way, or even because it helps us reach a certain goal we have set before ourselves. But is that really love? Over the past week and a half I have been reading Francis Chan's book "Crazy Love". It has been one of those books that are like a reoccurring blow to the face that always leaves a scar. The one question that continues to resurface throughout the past couple of days is "How would our lives change if we actually thought of each person that we came in contact with as Christ Himself"'. Throughout the Gospels, Jesus talks about having this type of love, this Agape love that is selfless, humble, Christ centered, and compassionate. How many of us fall short of that everyday? Looking back to the question then, how would our family lives change, our lives with our spouses, or friends, our co-workers, people we come in contact with on a daily basis, our worldview in general, how would they all change? The Bible say in 1 John 3: 16-20(The Message) "This is how we've come to understand and experience love: Christ sacrificed his life for us. This is why we ought to live sacrificially for our fellow believers, and not just be out for ourselves. If you see some brother or sister in need and have the means to do something about it but turn a cold shoulder and do nothing, what happens to God's love? It disappears. And you made it disappear. My dear children, let's not just talk about love; let's practice real love. This is the only way we'll know we're living truly, living in God's reality. It's also the way to shut down debilitating self-criticism, even when there is something to it. For God is greater than our worried hearts and knows more about us than we do ourselves". It is one thing to say we love or talk about love but another to practice real love with others. In doing so, it displays the true character of who you are as well as allows the love of Christ to be seen in you and through you. So with this passage in mind, is your love circumstantial or sacrificial? Do you love because your needs are met or do you love because Christ first loved you? And if you, what does that mean for you to love your husbands/wives, parents, brother/sister, friends, co-workers, even those who have wronged you in some way? Jesus tells us "I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me". But by loving the least of these, we are loving God. Gods greatest commandment is to "LOVE". How is that commandment being played out in your life today? In the wise words of Rev. Run, "God Is Love"
PEACE!
1 comment:
Sean, boy did I need this today! So often love is circumstantial, although it's something I don't think many of us think about until we've lost love for someone, and take a step back to look at why. It is amazing to me how closely interwined love and hate are. The love that we feel for someone during a certain season of our lives can turn cold quickly when a wrong isn't righted. But as Christians, should that matter to us??? NO!! Does Jesus turn his back on us when we have acted wrongly? Of course not--he takes pity on us and loves us anyway. This message hit me hard today because of a friendship that has turned sour, and I was feeling all sorry for myself when I read this. I should be grateful for the friendship I had and feel blessed by the lessons I learned and still choose to love that person regardless of our situation, because though love is an emotion, we can choose to forgive and love in spite of circumstance. So thank you, my friend.
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