Christian Living

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"Hey mom," shouted Billy. His mother screamed at him to stop shouting, and went to the room where Billy was playing. Billy just looked at his mom when she arrived into his room and said very quietly, "Mom, I love you." The mother looked at Billy and started to cry, she remembered when Billy was born just about 7 yrs. ago, and the doctors told her that it would be a miracle if he survived. Billy did survive and was now a healthy 7 yr. old boy. Billy just looked at her as if he had done something wrong - his mother went close to him and picked him up, she said, "Thank you Billy, I love you too."

Three very simple words; so often left unspoken, so often misunderstood, so often used to get rather than to give. Many hearts cry out to hear these words spoken, many hearts long to speak these words, and yet many hearts cringe at the sound of these words, as they stimulate and arouse so many negative thoughts. If God was to come down into our midst today, He would certainly ask, "Why is this so?"

God who created the universe, created the first man and woman to live in the garden of Eden for eternity, but after they sinned God banished them from the garden. However, before doing so, He demonstrated His love for them by clothing them with the skins from the animals. Ever since the beginning of time to the present day, God has continuously demonstrated His love towards mankind, by sending His son to be a ransom for us. Yet many people still ask the question, "Does God really love me?' Or, "If God really loves me, why does all these bad things happen to me?" Or, "If God really loves the world, why is there so many calamities?"

This is the view that many have of God, they lose sight of the big picture and equate pain, suffering, heartache and tribulation with God, and they fail to realize that there is another god (Satan) in this world. A god who is against and who is the complete antithesis of love, and this is why there is so much pain, heartache, hurt and suffering in the world, as people focus on their own trials and tribulations instead of reaching out with compassion, kindness and love towards their fellow human beings.

I have certainly experienced all of the above, as I grew up knowing that a God existed, but I had no concept of this love until I became a Christian. It was a refreshing and releasing experience; to know that I didn’t have to do anything to deserve or earn God’s love, as He first loved me and gave His very life for me. Yet, when my body was afflicted with pain and suffering, hurt and heartache, I tended to ask the same questions – until after many years later, my heart became calloused and insulated from the very thing that could set me free. Not from God’s love alone, but from the love of my fellow human beings – as God demonstrates His love for us not only through the signs and wonders of the world, but through those that we live with or come in contact with on a daily basis. But we have to open up our hearts to that other person, regardless of the hurt and pain of the past, and to allow the love of God to bring healing and restoration. But oh yes; we may also open up our hearts to further hurt and pain, as people may try once again to love us for their own gains. It is for us to differentiate and ask God; is this from you? Or is this from the god of this world?

But we should never lose hope as Paul in his letter to the Corinthian church so aptly summed up all up, “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not loved, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have faith that can move mountains but have not loved, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not loved, I gain nothing. 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 trust, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.” I Corinthians 13:1-8 (NIV).

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