Everyone wants it! We’re called “blessed” if we find it, and some find it new every season. R&B singers croon about it, Valentine’s Day is all about it, and Facebook created a button to show that there’s something greater than a “like” … Love! There are many ways to express this intense feeling or emotion, and we go around in circles trying to make others understand what we think it is. In reality, we need God to tell us what love is, and He does that best by simply being who He is.
What does love mean to us? If you were to ask different people from various walks and points in their lives what love is, you would get 100 different answers. The love for our family dog that my 6-year-old tells me about is very different from the love my 20-year-old expresses for her boyfriend. The love I’m familiar with after 13 years of marriage is seemingly inexperienced compared to the love my parents have after almost three decades of marriage. Love may be expressed differently at different ages, but it’s consistently positive.
We love our nails, fishing trips, lashes, social media accounts, and “being in our bags.”; But are any of those things and experiences a true reflection of love? Lashes can’t forgive, and video games can’t be kind. Fishing trips may require you to have patience, but fishing is something we simply enjoy. Love is not a feeling but an action that requires us to do work. Just like “…faith without works is dead” (James 2:26), love spoken is simply words released. We must show love to one another! The best way to show love is to be love. And our greatest example is God/Holy Spirit/Jesus.
God is love! He is patient, kind, trustworthy, hopeful, and unfailing. He isn’t proud nor boastful, and if we ask for His forgiveness, He is faithful to forgive without keeping a record of our wrongs. Our Father is love, and He is loving. He always shows His love for us and how we should love others. God gives us plenty of mercy and grace that will flow over into the lives of others so long as we go to Him and receive what He provides.
