1 John 4:7-8 (MSG) "My beloved friends let us continue to love each other since
love comes from God. Everyone who loves is born of God and experiences a
relationship with God. The person who refuses to love doesn't know the first
thing about God, because God is love—so you can't know him if you don't love."
Love is so much more than a pasted on smile and a cheesy
Christian greeting offered in passing. Love is so much more than feeding the
hungry at Thanksgiving or clinking a few coins in the Salvation Army bucket at
Christmas. Love is so much more than words without feeling tacked on to the end
of goodbye.
To love is to see inside someone and affirm the essence of
who they are. To love is to serve. To love is to embrace. To love is to spend
time in a dynamic life exchange. To love is to give. To love is to re-present
Jesus and His Father to those around us.
To love is to recognize that we are all different and
because of that difference, we all have a "unique to you" expression
of demonstrating love. For some, that expression looks like championing the
cause of the pro-life movement. For others, it may look like rescuing women and
children from the horrors of human trafficking. Still for others it may look
like staying at home to mother their young or joining the police force to bring
safety and justice for all. A teacher educating young hearts. An attorney
defending her client judicially. An actress illuminating the stage and warming
hearts with her gift of entertainment. All unique expressions of love
demonstrated to the world around us. All re-presenting an attribute of a Father
in Heaven and His only begotten Son who loves you.
Father God is so multifaceted in who He is, it's no wonder
we all get to be different in our expression of who we are. And yet at the
core, the common uniting factor is love. God is kind. God is good. God is just.
God is nurturing. God is a teacher. God is joyful. And yet at the center
remains His essence, God is love. How we give love to the world should mirror
who God is because as He is, so are we in this world (1 John 4:17).
Because we can't give away what we don't have, our loving
others comes out of our personal experience of God loving us. To love others is
to experience God. Love looks like compassion when we care for the hurting.
Love looks like affirmation when we encourage the discouraged. Love looks like
provision when we give to those in need. Love looks like honor when we embrace
the treasure of another human being. Love looks like peace when we offer a
listening ear or a comforting hand to a frantic soul.
What about you? Are you loving well? Can you articulate what
your love looks like? How do you demonstrate your unique to you expression of
love to those around you? How are
you re-presenting God to those in your sphere of influence?
©2012 Felicia Murrell
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