Originally written by Angela Bleier:
I hope you had a wonderful Valentines Day! The notion of genuine, steadfast love has had me thinking…what is true love, really? God defines perfect, agape love in 1 Cor 13:4-7. The Message states it beautifully.
Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.
Love doesn’t strut,
Doesn’t have a swelled head,
Doesn’t force itself on others,
Isn’t always “me first,”
Doesn’t fly off the handle,
Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn’t revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.
Love doesn’t strut,
Doesn’t have a swelled head,
Doesn’t force itself on others,
Isn’t always “me first,”
Doesn’t fly off the handle,
Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn’t revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.
1 John 3:1 says, “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God.” Thankfully, God didn’t lavish His love on us so we could hoard it for ourselves. We are to give it away so the world might see Him in all His Glory! We can feed the poor, give shelter to the homeless, take care of orphans and widows, and we SHOULD be doing these things. However, if the people we serve die and go to hell because we didn’t share the Hope of Jesus with them, how much have we really loved them? We must love them enough to share the Gospel! TRUE LOVE never loses sight of eternity!
How much do you love?
