Love
I remember back to my high school English classes and let me tell you that was a long time ago. One of the favorite assignments in the sixties was to write an essay defining love. I have always and still do love to write but I can remember struggling over that assignment. On the day that we received the graded essays back, the teacher said that there was no right or wrong response and that it was different for each individual. If each one of you would be asked to define love you would each have a different definition. For the most part, those definitions would be based on the experiences that you have had in life.
I was reading something the other day that really resonated with me. It said that love was not a feeling it was a decision. When we love someone, we make a conscious decision to do so and to want what is best for them.
Of course, our greatest example of love is God’s love. John 3:16 clearly states that He loved us so much that He gave His only son to make the supreme sacrifice for us. That love is love in its purest form. God wanted us to be so conscious of love that He includes it as one of the fruits of the spirit.
In just a few days from now, we will be observing Valentine’s Day. I have always wished that we could observe Valentine’s Day 365 days out of the year. Many of you know that I taught Kindergarten for many years and I will always remember the smiles on little faces as we opened the cherished boxes that held Valentines from all their classmates. They would usually ask me to read each one to them and then grin from ear to ear as they heard the greeting on the card. Oh, that we could practice using those words of affirmation to everyone we know every day. Oh, that we could show love in our actions to those that we do not know.
As a missionary in Honduras, I always tried to let the Hondurans see the love that I had for them and most importantly the love that I had for Jesus. You see our inward love is reflected in our outward love.
I challenge each one of you in the next few days to go to a different level of love. Reach out to someone that you can show love to. Maybe a charity or mission endeavor that touches your heart. Little is much when God is in it. I know you will be blessed.