Is there any
encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from his love? Any
fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and compassionate? Then make me truly happy
by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working
together with one mind and purpose.
Don’t be selfish;
don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than
yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in
others, too.
You must have the
same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Philippians 2:1-5
It’s St. Valentine’s Day, and of course, love is in the
air. One might think it is stating the
obvious that I would write about the topic of love. Well, there were many topics that I thought
of writing about. I thought about how
humble it is to be . . . loved by God.
Then I thought about how my wonderful wife is such a shining example of
. . . God’s love for me. Then I reminded
myself that I must be true to God’s word because . . . I love Him. And to be funny, God decided to instill one
of my favorite Beatles song in my head, “All You Need Is Love.” No matter how I tried to get around it, I
found myself back at love. So here I am
choosing to talk about the obvious: love.
What could I possibly say about love that is not already known? Nothing really, but I can remind us of what
God’s love is all about. It is a gift to
be given much like the candy boxes and red roses today. It is not shallow or something you say in
passing. It is a feeling that can be
overwhelming and the greatest you can ever experience. So today, I want to share this reminder on
Valentine’s Day. Love is a verb. Not a noun.
Godly love is an attitude that goes beyond just the
words. Someone once told me that they
loved me because God commands us to love each other as we love ourselves. I agreed that is true, but that is not what
Godly love is. Today’s verses give
insight as to what Godly love truly is.
You cannot have love for your brother or sister unless you know
them. Yes, you can love people, but God
did not intend for us to love others like a check mark on our ‘Being A Good
Christian’ checklist. Godly love forces
us to do better. It requires an attitude
that says, “I will love on someone today as if they are my brother or sister.” Now I am not going to hug strangers as if they
are my oldest brother. I will, however,
make a deliberate and sincere effort to get to know them. We must learn to dig beyond just the surface
and get to know people beyond just a simple hello. Godly love requires that we be involved in
the discussion, and share in others’ successes and failures. It is not easy, but since when did anything
worthwhile ever become easy? Now before
someone says there are some things that comes easy to them that they enjoy, I
would then say God expects much more of you.
Godly love is in a way is like spiritual growth. It stretches beyond the boundaries of what we
ourselves normally could reach, and expands our ability to be more like Christ.
We should always be encouraged by the love Jesus Christ has
for us. Whether you have a significant
other to celebrate today with or not, know that He said, “There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (John
15:13) Jesus calls us friend even as we
are not always His. That’s special and
should be celebrated on a day like today.
So let us make an effort to truly love others as He, who sacrificed His
life, first showed love for us. Who can
you show greater love to? How will you
commit to displaying more Godly love to others?
My prayer is that we embrace the spirit of today, and from a more Godly
(and Beatles) perspective, be all about love, love, love! Amen!
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