Christian Living

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Have you ever loved somebody so much that it made you cry? Knowing in your very soul that you want only the best for them at any cost? This love that you feel, have you ever felt that you would lay down your life, if asked, for this person to live? Have you ever stopped to ask yourself “who” or “why” it was that you felt this love? Love may be the most overused concept, with people confusing love with "want" or "desire"... yet one only needs to consider its actual source and the “instruction manual” that we were given to grasp the magnitude of this gift. It has been said that your search ends with the creator, not the creature. Love is not “of this world”, for the source of all love….comes only from God. 1 John 4:8 “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love” It is not “your” love, it is the realization that the love you feel comes only from Him, through Him! It is because YOU are loved beyond your human comprehension! He told us He loved us and then died on the cross to show us. John 4:16b “God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.” He longs for nothing more than for us to know Him, to feel His love, to be with us and to allow us to share His love with others. Yet, He created us as human with the choice of free will so that we might choose Him!

Perhaps the greatest chapter on love in the bible: {1 Corinthians 12:4-8 “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”} illustrates the selflessness of love, His love for us. This love is the gift he bestows on us…to love another with all that He shares with us, as He loves us! Love is patient, even when we falter or face, what seems, insurmountable odds. It lovingly embraces hurt hearts and minds, waiting to gently guide those who have stumbled, back to a place of Grace. Love is not boastful, instead it brags about others while giving glory to God for the gift of their existence and their accomplishments. Love is not arrogant or entitled; being overbearing or condescending with our position or knowledge, instead… it shares these things freely and is always thankful to God for the ability to do so. Love should never be rude; instead, love is always respectful and polite… despite circumstances or failure of yourself or another in moments of weakness. Love does not insist on its own way, instead love gives priority to another’s needs, even if this requires compromise or sacrifice. Love is not irritable, not easily provoked to anger at human mistakes. Love is never resentful, it rejoices when others succeed, regardless of their belief and even if it is at our own expense. Love does not rejoice when someone does something wrong , it does not rejoice in another’s sins, instead it may feel deep sadness at the frailty of humanity, it is then that we can turn to the Word for solace and rejoice in truth instead. Love bears ALL things, believes ALL things (by offering the benefit of the doubt and seeing the WHOLE person) and Love endures ALL (even those that are used, abused or persecuted). All of this IS Love. It is what He offers us, how He loves us.
The love that we are called to show to others was never “our” love, it is God’s love that we are called upon to give. Mark 12:30 “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your mind and with all your strength”. When it seems that the hurt is impossible to overcome, when it seems that you can not possibly love those who have hurt you or love your enemy before your friend….consider that, if all love comes from Him and you are walking with Him, you will have the strength to move past your pain and sadness. No one is beneath your ability to show love and compassion for.

It can be said that “You can speak what you think but you will live what you believe!” If you believe that God is Love, if you have felt His love, if you believe that His love is a gift for us to give…you will live in love and love by faith…

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