Love

Spring is coming, and traditionally, this is a season of love.  From Valentine's Day to weddings, we think a lot about love in the spring.  It is a time of renewal, of hope, of anticipation - all pieces of the puzzle we call love.  But that is only part of the picture.  There is so much more to real love than the fairy tale we dream of.

Love can be hard, painful, lonely.  Love is found in joy and grief, togetherness and aloneness, fun times and hard times.  The love you feel on your wedding day is also found on the day you bury your spouse.  The excitement of holding your infant for the first time is also found in the fear you feel as you rush to the ER the first time with your precious child.  The companionship of having people you love accentuates your isolation when they are away from you.  This is the love Paul was talking about when he talked of the spiritual fruit of love.

We all know what is probably the most famous passage in the Bible, from John 3:16:

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.

We see this passage written everywhere, from the Bible to internet memes, sporting events to Bible conferences, but how often do you think deeply about the words and their meaning?  God is giving us the blueprint for the true love that comes from living in the Spirit each day - the unselfconscious, sacrificial love of God for us, so all encompassing that he will separate himself even from his own son for our salvation.

There is an old saying from my youth, from the movie, "Love Story:"

"Love means never having to say you're sorry."

That is such a shallow understanding of something so deep and spiritual.

Love, to me, means living in the Spirit of God's will, showing the care and concern for others that God has shown for us.  Love requires sacrifice.  Love requires selflessness.  Love requires compassion, even when we don't understand or are weary and overwhelmed with our own problems.  Love, quite simply, requires - it is an action word, not a noun.

God gave - I believe - Jesus sacrificed - I am saved.  There was nothing easy about it.  It was pure and personal and completely for me.  And for each one of us, just the same.  I pray, especially in these difficult days of social isolation and uncertainty, that the Spirit leads me each day in love for others as God has loved me.