“Love is the one commodity we can possess that is replenished and increased when it is given away.” (Ace Collins)
Which means it’s not like money (spend it and it’s gone). With love, give it away and it actually increasesin your life.
Love.
And here I’m talking about more than romantic love. I’m talking about the greatest commandment kind of love. The change-a-life kind of love. (Including your own.) Every major religion has love at it’s heart. And even if you’re not a “religious” person, would anyone argue that love is important?
But what is it? That’s where differences start to emerge.
Love is like something in the rear-view mirror. As you go ahead in life it can get blurry—blurry in terms of what we think it means. So you always need to back up and bring it into focus if you’re going to carry it with you as you journey through life.
If we don’t do that, we get lazy and start to think that love is a feeling or an experience that happens to you. Like some invisible force that drifts around and inspires some and not others. We see someone doing something incredible with their life and wonder, “If only I had that kind of love.”
You can.
For 4 weeks at Westminster I’ll be leading a mini-series called “My Love.” (Click here to see a short YouTube intro.) We’ll be diving into 1 single Bible verse. 1 Corinthians 13: 7. Love “always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” We usually hear 1 Corinthians 13 at weddings (“Love is patient, love is kind…”), and that fits. But it’s about a much wider, more comprehensive vision of love for every roadway you’ll encounter.
I’m guessing that you have a reason, or person, or situation, that calls for great, life-lifting love. It’s possible. But you also have to remember that this kind of love can’t be reduced to a feeling or is perfectly easy. As an anonymous person once said, there are no shortcuts to anywhere worth going.
But if you want to know where you’re going, you have to have a clearer understanding of what love is. Try playing a football game without locating the field or knowing what a touchdown is.
So here’s some definition to get us started: Love always protects. Always trusts. Always hopes. Always perseveres.
That’s a journey. And it’s the kind of legacy of love that I want to leave in my life. What about you?
Our love can be great—not because we are awesome, but because God is.
