Understanding True Love

Sometimes it seems that the world has forgotten what love is.  There is so much anger and hostility around these days.  We see our government leaders talking bad about people and one political party bashing another political party and we certainly see the love growing there.  There is a lot of anger and violence going on all around us and there seems to be few expressions of real true love.

Sometimes when we think of love we might think of those sappy romance movies that at on the Hallmark Channel where the guy gets the girl and they fall in love and live happily ever after.  I like those stories, but sometimes those stories miss the point of what true love really is.  Love isn't shallow and it's not warm and fuzzy feelings most of the time.

Love is giving of one's self.  It denotes sacrifice.  We learn what real love is when we look a God and what He did for us.  God loves us.  We remember reading John 3:16 which says, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life."  God loved us and He gave us His Son, Jesus Christ.

Jesus showed us the love of the Father by going to the Cross where He died for our sins past, present, and future.  Jesus rose from the dead on the third day conquering sin and death.  God demonstrates a great sacrificial love towards each one of us and we are called to do like wise.

I like what I Corinthians 13 says,

"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels,

but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or

a clanging cymbal.

If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries

and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains,

but have not love, I am nothing.

If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames,

but have not love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind.  It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.

It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no records of wrongs.

Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.

It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fail.  But where there are prophecies, they will cease;

where there are tongues, they will be stilled;

where there is knowledge, it will pass away.

For we know in part and we prophesy in part,

but when perfection comes, then the imperfect disappears.

When I was a child, I talked like a child, I reasoned like a child.

When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.

Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror;

then we shall see face to face.

Now I know in part; then I shall know fully,

even as I am fully known.

And now these three remain:

faith, hope, and love.

But the greatest of these is love."

We can not truly understand what love is like without at first looking and understanding what Jesus Christ did for us on the Cross at Calvary.  He took upon Himself the sins of the entire world.  When we really allow that to sink into our little minds we begin to understand what true love looks like.

Jesus was fully God and fully man.  He came to demonstrate His great love towards us by dying on a Cross to reconcile us back to God through His sacrifice.  We love Him because He first loved us.  The Lord loves us with a deep unconditional love.  He wants to have a personal relationship with each and every human being on the planet.  We need to come to Him by faith and receiving Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.  We must repent of our sins and walk in the newness of the Spirit.

 When we realize what true love and receive it we will be able to express it better to other people around us.  

Lord,

We love You and we thank You for showing us how much You love us.

Help us to love others as You love us.

Teach us to love others.

In Jesus Name we pray,

Amen.