Are you Ready??? Lessons in 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. 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.

What’s Love Got to do With It?

Yes, I know that’s the title of a Tina Turner song….and a catchy one at that. But the kind of love I suspect Tina was talking about isn’t exactly the type of love I’m talking about here. As I thought & prayed about what topic to write about, I immediately knew—love. Not the gushy, feel-good, make-you-giddy kind of love, although that’s fun. I’m talking about the hard stuff—the UNconditional kind (agape); the kind that will test you to your very limits and say, “are you really sure that’s what you meant?” Agape can only be tested when faced with the most difficult character traits, flaws, short-comings, and circumstances of the ones we have decided to love. Agape isn’t based on what the other person is, can be, or even in how they treat you. It is a decision to love regardless of any condition.

Perhaps one of my very favorite passages in scripture is one that is incredibly prominent concerning love. We hear it at weddings, it sounds sweet and touching…but what about the challenge to live it? What about living it not only with the people that we “like” but also our enemies?

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, 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. I Corinthians 13:4-8a

I am currently in the middle of a journey that is testing my love-walk. This isn’t the first instance that my choice to love someone has been tested, and I’m sure it will not be the last. My personal details are not necessarily key. The fact that you are either on a journey with similar implications or will one day face one is the focus. I have learned (and am learning) that agape is:

Patient: willing to wait on God’s timing with a joyful and expectant heart

Kind: believing and speaking the best of others

Not envious: not jealous, resentful, or grudging

Not boastful: not speaking of self with excessive pride, exaggeration, or vanity

Not proud: not seeking satisfaction over something regarded as credited to oneself

Not rude: not being rough, harsh, ungentle, discourteous, or impolite—especially in a deliberate way

Not self-seeking: looking out for the best interest of the other party; putting personal interest and gain aside to seek what is best for the other

Not easily-angered: not irritable or easily provoked

Not a record-keeper of wrongs: not resentful, not a “score-keeper” (True forgiveness and mercy are staples of agape.)

Not delightful in evil/injustice/wrongdoing: not receiving enjoyment out of immoral or wicked deeds that would hurt or mislead the other

Pleased/Rejoicing in the truth: taking delight in honesty; interacting without deceit or manipulation

Always protecting: seeking to look after, guard, or shield appropriately

Always trusting: constantly and unquestionably confident

Always hoping: continually looking forward in faith with expectancy

Never failing: never giving up no matter the situation or circumstance; never passing away, dwindling, losing strength, or vigor

In our own limited humanness we are incapable of such a display of love. It is only through the power, mercy, and grace of our Lord through the Holy Spirit that we are able to have a love-walk that mirrors scripture. While agape can bring great pain at times because of its insistence upon endurance no matter what, it is also the one that can bring the deepest fulfillment. It is the only type of love that can truly point others to the person of Jesus Christ.

Who in your life do you need help to love without condition? An enemy that has wounded you deeply? Someone that is currently incapable of reciprocating love? Ask for God to give you His heart toward those individuals, and prepare to see your heart change and agape to grow.