Here is a verse that you have probably heard at every wedding you have ever attended. Please don't let that fact keep you from seeing the amazing power of these verses. I want you to do what I did this morning...walk yourself through this description of love and ask, "Is this what I embody every day?" It was a fairly brutal exercise for me this morning...
Love is patient and kind - am I?
Love does not envy or boast - do I?
Love is not proud...it does not envy or boast - am I...do I?
Love rejoices in truth, not in the failure of others - do I?
Love believes...hopes...and endures anything - do I?
I look at those descriptors and find myself very lacking in the love department. So often, I am too busy looking out for myself...too busy worrying about how other people view me or whether or not I am happy to really put authentic love on display for the world...for my family...and that is a travesty.
Paul tells us that love does not end. It is eternal. I think about all the time and effort I spend on things that are temporary...things that are passing away...things that are truly meaningless in the big picture of eternity, and my heart is broken. If I want to leave something behind me that last...I need to love. You and I...if we want to have an impact on eternity...if we want to leave behind a legacy that matters...if we want to create something that will last throughout eternity...then we need to LOVE! We need to put on display for this world a reflection of God's incredible love. We need to be so patient that people cannot even fathom how we do it...they need to know it is something that human beings cannot do without God. We need to be so humble that it is shocking to others...so shocking that they are drawn into the presence of God as they search for the source of our humility. We need to be able to love those that hate us...those that persecute us...those that go to war against us, because vengeance does not last...hatred does not last...retaliation does not last...only love lasts.
Isn't it funny how Paul talks about being a child and acting childish versus being a man and acting as a man should in relation to love? Look around the world...most of the "manliest" men you know act like total babies! They act like little spoiled brat kids. They don't get their way...they get angry. They don't get what they want...they pout. Somebody says something mean to them...they wanna fight. How is that any different from a two year old. It is time for Christian men and women to stand up and show the world the strength of love...to show the world what godly maturity looks like. Men who could care less what other human beings say about them, because they know who they are in Christ. Women who forgive and refuse to hold grudges. People who care infinitely more about God and others than they do about getting their way. That is love on display.
Finally, in churches we talk all the time about faith. The necessity of faith...the primacy of faith...the importance of faith...and don't get me wrong - faith is huge! Without faith we are lost...we are wallowing in our own sinfulness with no hope of redemption. But look at how Paul closes out this passage - without love...there is no faith. Faith, hope and love are eternal...but love is the ultimate goal. Love is the greatest. Love should be our focus...our passion...our desire. God is love, and as people who place their faith in God...we should be love as well.
No comments:
Post a Comment