LOVE By: Patsy Weiser
Love - what does that word really mean? We say we love our spouse, our children, our dog, hog hunting, a certain type of food or music, and God. Surely these loves are very different. The English language is severely lacking when it comes to the word “love” because it has such a broad range of meanings.
We read in the Bible that God is love. No greater love was ever shown than when Christ died for our sins. We are commanded to love one another. Yet how many of us truly do that? It is easy to love people that are good to us or ones of whom we approve. The real test of love is when we are presented with the choice to love the unlovely, the person that has hurt us, or someone that is different from us.
The story of Joseph in the Bible is an awesome example for us to reference about love. He was hated by his brothers and sold into slavery by them. Yet when he was in a position that he could have had them killed - he loved them! When compared to Joseph, most Christians would fall short in their love walk.
We need to seek God for wisdom and guidance and growth in our love toward others. There is nothing that love cannot fix. It doesn’t matter who is wrong or right - what matters is how we love through it. Without love, we cannot please God. This is rather obvious in 1 Corinthians 13: 1-3 ,13. It says, ”If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.” “Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.”
A thought to ponder: It has been said that the way we treat others is directly proportional to our relationship with God????????!!!!!!!! If we desire to be a more effective and greater witness for God - then we must focus on our love walk. It will not only bless others but ourselves as well.
(Bible verses taken from The New Living translation)