Wednesday, February 8
Wednesday, February 1
Hello Love
I’m sure most of you have already heard this somewhere…probably in a sermon or something…but I’m going to say it again because this is my blog and I can say what I want. ( The word “love” appears in the bible 508 times in the bible. Now that is just the world “love”…it doesn’t even count the times that words “love” is a part of are in there. If you did that meaning that you would come up with words like “lovely” and “loved” and “loves” because that would up the count to 697. Granted, not every one of those instances is God saying to us that we are loved by Him but the point is that “love” is key.
Love is important to our lives and the lives of those around us. When we love inclusively we give off a feeling…people pick up on that love and in turn are loving to us and to others around them. Have you ever been in a crappy mood and had a family member or bf/gf or just a friend say, “hey I love you.” Just randomly and unexpectedly and spontaneously? It’s an amazing thing to know you’re loved. It’s an amazing thing to be told that you are loved and to feel that love. I find it hard to contain my love for anyone. Whether it be a friend or a family member or anyone else if I love that person then they will probably know it. I show it in any way I can. I give hugs, I tell them, I give them things, I try to act in a loving manner toward them…anything I can do to show someone I love them. That’s part of the problem though. I choose who I love and don’t love. I choose who gets the hug and who gets a simple head nod. I choose who gets the random thing of flowers or the gift in the mail or who gets the cold shoulder. I’m a jerk. That’s how I see it. I hate that I can’t love everyone. I hate that I have negative feelings for people I don’t even know and for some people I have never even met. That’s so stupid of me…to limit my love – to limit something God commands me to do…love.
Well the bible says to “love your neighbor as yourself” in Leviticus 19:18 and then later on in Matthew 5:43-48 it says "You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
Easier said than done.
Now obviously we won’t be perfect. Our love will never be perfect because we suck at life. However, we should strive for perfection. It is hard to set your sights on an unattainable goal because you always fall short and it’s easy to get down on yourself and give up. Don’t. Think about how many times you have failed in life. Too many to count? Okay try this year? Still too many? Okay try this week…in fact just think about today for a minute. Think about how many times you have fallen short of what you should be doing in your life. Have you loved everyone you’ve encountered? Have you done your best to expand God’s kingdom? have you prayed yet? Have you thanked God just for having the opportunity to live another day? No…you’re not perfect. Don’t you dare think you are. There’s always a flaw…always. But that’s the beauty of all of this. We don’t have to be perfect…we just have to try our hardest. Yeah we’ll blow it and yeah we’ll fail and be hurt and hurt others but we have to try. We have to. Think about it this way…you won’t disappoint God if you at least try. That’s all he wants. He wants an effort. He knows we won’t succeed all the time and that we’re gonna make idiots of ourselves time and time again but that doesn’t make Him love us any less. There’s a song that says “there’s nothing I can do to earn God’s love” and that’s because it is there and has been there from day one and will be there forever and always. In Romans 8:38-39 it says “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
That’s neat. That is love. That is a love I can never give but a love I receive each and every day. That is an amazing love. That is agape love. A love I don’t deserve. A love I will never earn and a love I can’t live up to. A love I don’t have to. It’s there for me. It’s there for you. Take it.
I made up a word one time about someone because I couldn’t decide between gorgeous or beautiful to describe them but neither seemed to be enough so I made the word “gorgeousful.” I think that God’s love is gorgeousful. What else can you say?
I think the Beatles said it best.
“Love is all you need.”
[love.]
- david
Love is important to our lives and the lives of those around us. When we love inclusively we give off a feeling…people pick up on that love and in turn are loving to us and to others around them. Have you ever been in a crappy mood and had a family member or bf/gf or just a friend say, “hey I love you.” Just randomly and unexpectedly and spontaneously? It’s an amazing thing to know you’re loved. It’s an amazing thing to be told that you are loved and to feel that love. I find it hard to contain my love for anyone. Whether it be a friend or a family member or anyone else if I love that person then they will probably know it. I show it in any way I can. I give hugs, I tell them, I give them things, I try to act in a loving manner toward them…anything I can do to show someone I love them. That’s part of the problem though. I choose who I love and don’t love. I choose who gets the hug and who gets a simple head nod. I choose who gets the random thing of flowers or the gift in the mail or who gets the cold shoulder. I’m a jerk. That’s how I see it. I hate that I can’t love everyone. I hate that I have negative feelings for people I don’t even know and for some people I have never even met. That’s so stupid of me…to limit my love – to limit something God commands me to do…love.
Well the bible says to “love your neighbor as yourself” in Leviticus 19:18 and then later on in Matthew 5:43-48 it says "You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
Easier said than done.
Now obviously we won’t be perfect. Our love will never be perfect because we suck at life. However, we should strive for perfection. It is hard to set your sights on an unattainable goal because you always fall short and it’s easy to get down on yourself and give up. Don’t. Think about how many times you have failed in life. Too many to count? Okay try this year? Still too many? Okay try this week…in fact just think about today for a minute. Think about how many times you have fallen short of what you should be doing in your life. Have you loved everyone you’ve encountered? Have you done your best to expand God’s kingdom? have you prayed yet? Have you thanked God just for having the opportunity to live another day? No…you’re not perfect. Don’t you dare think you are. There’s always a flaw…always. But that’s the beauty of all of this. We don’t have to be perfect…we just have to try our hardest. Yeah we’ll blow it and yeah we’ll fail and be hurt and hurt others but we have to try. We have to. Think about it this way…you won’t disappoint God if you at least try. That’s all he wants. He wants an effort. He knows we won’t succeed all the time and that we’re gonna make idiots of ourselves time and time again but that doesn’t make Him love us any less. There’s a song that says “there’s nothing I can do to earn God’s love” and that’s because it is there and has been there from day one and will be there forever and always. In Romans 8:38-39 it says “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
That’s neat. That is love. That is a love I can never give but a love I receive each and every day. That is an amazing love. That is agape love. A love I don’t deserve. A love I will never earn and a love I can’t live up to. A love I don’t have to. It’s there for me. It’s there for you. Take it.
I made up a word one time about someone because I couldn’t decide between gorgeous or beautiful to describe them but neither seemed to be enough so I made the word “gorgeousful.” I think that God’s love is gorgeousful. What else can you say?
I think the Beatles said it best.
“Love is all you need.”
[love.]
- david
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