I believe that it is just a
word until someone comes along and gives it meaning.
Love is easy to say but hard
to live out or practice. We are very quick to tell someone we love them, but
unless we give meaning to the word by actually practicing it, all we say is
nothing. Love is a doing word; it's an action. We have to express it through
our presence and actions.
Love is a command from God.
Not an option. Not something relative. It is the only way we can experience the
Kingdom of God on earth. Whichever way you look at it, it’s a must, no option.
For us to enjoy and be of significance in this world, we have to love. No way
out.
We all have different ways we
appreciate to be loved. Ways we desire to be loved. Unfortunately, this is not
only one way, but even those around us also want to be loved their way. They
have the things they wish could be done to them, so they experience love. The
battle with perfect love is then to Love the way those around us want us to
love them and also to be loved the way we want to be loved. The struggle goes
even further when deep in our hearts we know how we want to love others but
it's either not being appreciated, or we are not able to give it as we wish. We
fall short.
Words are powerful, and some
who understand the power behind what they confess have used it for their
benefit in many ways. But merely using words with no equivalent action, might
not carry the much weight. Someone whose words accompany his actions is more trustworthy
than the one whose words and actions don't match. For God so loved the world
that he gave. He didn't stop at just letting us know that he loves us, he went
ahead and made the ultimate sacrifice, he gave. In fact, those of us who have
people we love, the action part is not an excuse. Giving is the ultimate
expression of love. Whether it’s time, resources, information, affection it
shows that we are committed to acting in the long term best interest of the
person on the receiving end. Just merely having good intentions towards someone
is not love.
The world does not need more
love; it needs more lovers. It needs more people who will do unto others as
they would be done unto. People who will act in the long term best interest of
those around them. People who will let those around them experience the Kingdom
of God. The kingdom of Love. A kingdom where love reigns. Where love is the
language, and it's the philosophy — a kingdom where love is the norm and is the
way of life.
What if we loved each other a
little bit more? What if we all committed to being lovers? What if love was
abundant in our hearts that we went around spreading it? What if the motivation
of all we did was love? What if the world was full of lovely human beings who
are lovable? What if we gave of ourselves to the idea of love and its meaning?
Image Credits: http://www.momsalute.com
In AYLF, one of the things we emphasize
always is love. This is clear in all our five core values which are:
Friendships, Community of Compassion, Reconciliation, faithfulness, and
integrity. These values are inspired by a desire to see love become our DNA.
I don't know about you, but my
struggle is to love in this fallen world. I have made a commitment to that.
Sometimes I fall short. But my commitment remains, that I will be a creature of
love. So help me God.
If this resonates with you, go ahead to evaluate how you love. Then look for a small community of friends who you can do this together with. Being accountable to a few and practicing with a few. It's about building a community of friends to share each other's journey of love. You have to be deeply committed to each other and desire to see each other grow in this journey. You have to create support, encouragement and accountability platform for each other. The community has to be as small as possible so that there is active engagement by all involved.
Find a community around you
and see if these conversations make sense to you.
I'm touched by this message.
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