Love 1

Ever sit down and wonder about the definition of love? Why is love something that can alter so many emotions and so many things? Who really came up with all these ideas of love? Why are candies things that suggest love? Who chose roses to be the proclamation of love, and why are lips romantic?

Love contains a lot more depth than just the romantic stuff, because love is something that is needed by all people. My son, Jacob, recently watched me say goodbye to my mom and give her a hug. He asked me, “Why did grandma hug you? “ Mindy and I tried to tell him that she is my mom. He said, “Dad, you have a mom?” Funny how kids can put things in the perspective of what is happening in life around them.

Love is something that we all need--and not romantic love. But we need people to love us. It helps us to feel confident, to know who we are. But even deeper than that it is how we are designed.

If all people need love, then there is something in our very core that cries out for it. And what would that be that would need love so desperately that nothing else could be filled by it?

Occasionally I pull myself out of my own world and I get to a place where I realize that every person I see on a daily basis is a person who needs love. Have you ever thought about it--the grocery checker, the flight attendant, the car salesman, the homeless dude, the waitress, and even your own parents.   They all need love.

In my small group Bible study, we had a waitress who had always waited on us. She was pregnant, and it seemed like her boyfriend was about to bail on her. We pooled together and got her a gift card. I brought some baby clothes in from the masses we had been blessed with from people giving to us, and she was overjoyed. The baby arrived, and she was happy.  It seemed like things were good. Then all of a sudden one night she was gone. At the restaurant, we heard comments that she no longer worked there, and something was mentioned involving the police. The details seemed foggy and left us wondering what was going on. You got that feeling in the pit of your stomach like how could she do something like this? It left us wondering why we helped her. Did we really think our small gifts could impact her life?

But I remember the nights we circled around her and prayed for her baby. We prayed that God would provide and care for her. She knew that these dudes who met on Tuesday nights cared for her. The imprint of Love 1.

Imprints on people are not always noticed right away, but they are necessary to trace the truth. And the truth about Love is this:  There is only one God who defines love and He is our God. The God who sent His Son to die and rise for us, shows us what sacrificial love is. He shows us what it means to love people that the world casts off, and He teaches us today how His love that has changed us, can change others.

This week we talk about just that: What does it mean to Love 1, and how Jesus‘ definition and teaching about Love affects us. It will be challenging, but it will be rewarding. God created us for this purpose, and that is why we all want love; and whether the world admits it or not, that is the reason they are all in search of love. And so we wait for our chance to teach them one of my favorite verses in the whole Bible.

1 John 4:8  “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.”