Never forget the three powerful resources you always have available to you: love, prayer, and forgiveness. (H. Jackson Brown, Jr.)
“I’ve told you these things for a purpose: that my joy might be your joy, and your joy wholly mature. This is my command: Love one another the way I loved you. This is the very best way to love. Put your life on the line for your friends." (John15:13-14)
The very best way to love - love like Christ loves you! Indeed, three powerful resources are available to all who are redeemed by the blood of Christ: Love, Prayer, and Forgiveness. Without prayer, we find it hard to love the unlovely. Without forgiveness, we find it hard to love anyone! What does a life on the line look like? If we were to consider the examples throughout scripture, we could find a few that stand out. We can take a lesson from each of them.
David may not have been the tallest kid in the lot of his brothers, nor was he likely the strongest, most talented, or even the most appreciated. But...he was the most available when the need arose! One way we love is to be there when God asks us to do something. David knew his God well enough to trust him with the biggest and worst of 'giants'. Some of us need to be there to face the 'giants' with those we love - because they are having a dickens of a time facing them all alone!
Ruth was not the 'luckiest' of women, having married a foreigner to her land, but all too soon widowed. A widow was a burden - someone from the immediate family needing to step up to take care of her. The family suffered great tragedy - the loss of the patriarch and both sons, leaving a grieving matriarch, and two widowed daughter-in-laws. The most logical plan - go back home to her own people. The loving choice she made - serve her mother-in-law with all her ability. Some of us need to learn to serve another in love, even when it is not the most 'convenient' thing to do.
The Song of Solomon is filled with reminders of pursuing the one we love - so perhaps the greatest example of love is the Bride depicted in this Song. She gives of herself, sometimes forgetting to pursue, but then realizing how empty life is without that love. God's love is drawing, engulfing us in its grip, and holding us tightly. The Bride served her lover, clung tightly to him, but never forgot that 'pursuit' is necessary in love. Some of us might need to remember there is more to love than just 'being there'. There is investment of time, attention, and our total self within the relationship. Just sayin!
“I’ve told you these things for a purpose: that my joy might be your joy, and your joy wholly mature. This is my command: Love one another the way I loved you. This is the very best way to love. Put your life on the line for your friends." (John15:13-14)
The very best way to love - love like Christ loves you! Indeed, three powerful resources are available to all who are redeemed by the blood of Christ: Love, Prayer, and Forgiveness. Without prayer, we find it hard to love the unlovely. Without forgiveness, we find it hard to love anyone! What does a life on the line look like? If we were to consider the examples throughout scripture, we could find a few that stand out. We can take a lesson from each of them.
David may not have been the tallest kid in the lot of his brothers, nor was he likely the strongest, most talented, or even the most appreciated. But...he was the most available when the need arose! One way we love is to be there when God asks us to do something. David knew his God well enough to trust him with the biggest and worst of 'giants'. Some of us need to be there to face the 'giants' with those we love - because they are having a dickens of a time facing them all alone!
Ruth was not the 'luckiest' of women, having married a foreigner to her land, but all too soon widowed. A widow was a burden - someone from the immediate family needing to step up to take care of her. The family suffered great tragedy - the loss of the patriarch and both sons, leaving a grieving matriarch, and two widowed daughter-in-laws. The most logical plan - go back home to her own people. The loving choice she made - serve her mother-in-law with all her ability. Some of us need to learn to serve another in love, even when it is not the most 'convenient' thing to do.
The Song of Solomon is filled with reminders of pursuing the one we love - so perhaps the greatest example of love is the Bride depicted in this Song. She gives of herself, sometimes forgetting to pursue, but then realizing how empty life is without that love. God's love is drawing, engulfing us in its grip, and holding us tightly. The Bride served her lover, clung tightly to him, but never forgot that 'pursuit' is necessary in love. Some of us might need to remember there is more to love than just 'being there'. There is investment of time, attention, and our total self within the relationship. Just sayin!
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