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. Love never fails. ~1 Corinthians 13:4-8a
This week is leading me to reflect quite a bit on love—what it is, what it isn’t. One of my absolute favorite passages in the Bible is the “love passage” in 1 Corinthians. I don’t love it for the mushy, gushy reasons that some people do. To me, if it seems all warm-fuzzy to you, you haven’t ever really been challenged in this area to truly love someone. This isn’t just a set of verses read at all of your friends’ weddings. It’s an honest assessment of what REAL love is supposed to be, and a challenge to those of us that claim to be in Christ to actually walk it out. If you’ve been tested in your love walk, it’s a set of truly poignant verses that are quite humbling. It may sound odd, but I count it as a privilege to have encountered such difficult trials in this area.
I know I have written on this subject before (see What’s Love Got to do with it?), but it’s one that I think is often looked at in passing. My goal today is to essentially give you some food for thought to digest over this weekend—to challenge you AND to challenge me. Also, with this weekend being Easter, our greatest example of love is plainly staring us in the face. God’s love for us through Christ is THE lesson in love.
Look again at Paul’s description of love from 1 Corinthians. At a recent conference, Beth Moore stated “True love always possesses a longing.” Joyce Meyer said today on her facebook feed “You can’t walk in love for free….it costs something.” Are you willing to face the longing if it’s never met? Are you willing to pay the price to walk in love?
Could you truly love someone if it cost you what meant most to you? What if it were a child, a family member, or a relationship you’ve prayed about? Can you love someone to the point of complete selflessness? The honest answer is that you and I are incapable of this kind of sustained selfless love on our own. It is only through the One that IS love that we can love someone even when we must die to self.
It’s a love that each of us is craving, and we become frustrated when the people around us cannot give us that truly unconditional, self-sacrificing love. We must first receive that love from our Heavenly Father before we are able to give it to others. This type of love requires motives to be checked regularly. You can’t “fake out” God when it comes to matters of the heart.
Take a few moments to look at the relationships in your life. Give an honest self-assessment of how your love walk is looking with these people. What is the number one way you can seek to increase your love walk right now? Go to the Lord to receive His love as a free gift….in return He will strengthen you to love those around you in ways that will astound you.
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