Is this how it was intended to be?

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 Love cures people - both the ones who give it and the ones who receive it. (Karl A. Menninger)

I give you a new command: Love each other. You must love each other just as I loved you. All people will know that you are my followers if you love each other. (John 13:34-35)

Some in this world crave love because they really haven't seen much love modeled in their lives - rejected, alone in most of their actions, drifting kind of aimlessly from one relationship to another, just hoping they will find 'whatever' it is they crave. Love isn't learned from the textbooks - it is modeled behavior. We can absolutely KNOW God loves us because he sent his son to 'model' the behaviors of love. His love has been in action since he created heaven and earth, but if we ever doubted his love, we only need to look to the actions of Jesus on our behalf, the actions of his Father in sending him to earth, and then the actions of the Father pronouncing sin's penalty has been paid once and for all through Jesus.

Love has a curative effect - it envelops us in its actions and surrounds us with its gentleness. Is love always gentle, though? I never thought it was when my parents would discipline me for some misguided action on my part - until I was the parent and had to take similar actions in the lives of my two children. It was then that I realized love isn't always 'gentle' as some may think of gentleness - but it is directive, protective, and restorative! Love gives what one needs, not always what one deserves. This is indeed good news, isn't it? We need God's gentle love, but there are times we need his discipline in our lives in order to bring correction. Both are God's love expressed, with one being a whole lot easier to accept than the other!

Love isn't ethereal - it is practical and is often seen in the actions of another. We would find it hard to believe someone who said they loved us and then saw no actions that revealed that love, wouldn't we? We are the kind of people who need 'proof' that what is said is meant. Isn't God good to give us that 'proof' in his Son? We might think we don't need his love, but there is no basis for real love apart from God initiating the actions of love within us. We might have 'fond feelings' or 'good vibes', but we don't really experience love as God intends it to be experienced until we experience his love. Just sayin!

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