What is Love?

What exactly is Love?

This whole love thing has been working on me for a while now. Basically all of my life. The simple concept of love has left me speechless time and time again. As funny as it sounds, it's the most extreme and real thing a person can be a part of in this world. Hate never got us anywhere, but anytime love begins to rise up from the ashes of the broken the whole world seems to hold their breath and watch. I'm a hopeless romantic. My future wife is going to be that girl that has to put up with all kinds of encouragement,  love letters, flowers, etc. I also do my best to be the kind of man that loves all of those around me. It's difficult. There is nothing more challenging to the human race than the pursuit of a lifestyle of love. 

Love will make you do some crazy things. 

My Grandfather lost his sanity in one of the worst wars our country has ever seen. Vietnam cost my Grandfather everything. Papa had even been a very devout follower of Jesus before he went to war and left the faith shortly after his return to the states. When he came home he beat my Mom quite often because of his PTSD. My Mother is one of the greatest examples of Love that I have ever seen because of the way she handled my Grandfather. Later in life after she got married and moved out he became deathly ill and weak because of Parkinson's Disease. He lived the last 13 years of his life totally dependent on others. My Mother hated the thought of him in a nursing home so we kept him in our home off and on for quite a while. All Mom did was show him love through the actions of dressing him, feeding him, and making sure that he had a safe place to sleep.

The last time he came to stay with us, he stayed 5 days and then passed away. It was totally unexpected. He died peacefully over the course of that sunny Wednesday. My Mother was the only one by his side the whole time. We laid him to rest in Panama City and later that week, when my Mother was going through the one suitcase he had to his name, she found this letter from him to his family:

Dear Kim and Karen (his daughters),

I love you very equally.

I know that I have been a burden on you.

Remember the good old days and be brave.

I believe in Jesus as my Redeemer, Savior, and that his blood covers my sins.

Love,

Al

My Grandfather is now in Heaven with his Lord and Savior. Because of an example set by his daughter he came to know the one who is Love in the last days of his life. My Mother was well within her worldly rights to let my Grandfather die lonely in a hospital bed because of the things he had done to her. Instead she picked up the cross and the lifestyle of Love that she knew was right and he received the ultimate gift because of it.

In Matthew chapter 25, verses 31 through 46 we read about the separating of the faithful and the unfaithful on judgement day. What's interesting to me about this passage is that Jesus never asks those being judged about which rules they followed or didn't. All He tells them is that the faithful loved Him through the way they loved others and the unfaithful didn't. Our faith isn't about following a bunch of rules. At it's core it is about loving God and loving people. Listen to the words of Jesus in this next passage and you'll understand what I mean:

Matthew chapter 22, verses 36 through 40 says this: "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law? Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."

Everything hangs on those two commandments. At it's core, this is what it means to be a Christ-follower.

Love is action and lifestyle. My Mother understood that. She didn't lean on the worlds understanding of Love when it came to deciding the way my Grandfather would live his last years. She understood that real love meant action and taking in the sick, homeless, hurting, hungry old man that was her Father, despite everything that had happened between them.

So I've got a question for you. If we all started loving like that, even when it goes against all human reasoning, what kind of an impact would it have on the world around us? I can promise you this... It would be different.

D.L.

The point at which we step out of our comfort zone in obedience to God is the point that He begins to shine through us and impact those around us.

I always wondered why the Bible was full of crazy people. People that would march their only sons up a mountain and sacrifice them. People that would get rid of all but 300 men in their army and then go up against a force that should have stomped the original amount of troops. People that would give up their lives to follow a hobo that was teaching a seemingly ridiculous doctrine. People that would give up their lives for a God they couldn't see.

Christians are pretty extreme people. At least... we should be.

The sentence at the beginning of this post was a thought that occurred to me in a Bible study a couple nights ago. My comfort zone is a nice place but I'm beginning to understand that if I want to be of much real use to God and His kingdom, it's a place I'm going to have to abandon for the most part.

A couple years ago I had a knock down drag out with my best friend. I had been done wrong and I forgave and moved on, but I didn't ever want to talk to him again. As a matter of fact I didn't talk to him for 3 months. The thing is, I forgave him in my heart and mind but I never said the words to him and I didn't feel "comfortable" doing so. Through a dream God told me to approach this friend and forgive him in person. I wasn't too up on the idea, but the next day I contacted him and we met at one of our old favorite hangout spots; Johnney O'Quigleys Ale House and Bar. We sat down at the bar and through a nice long conversation we forgave and forgot and it was all good. A year and a half later I led that friend to Christ in my basement... To this day he is my most loyal and trusted friend. All of this because of stepping out of the comfort zone.

Obedience goes a long way. Obedience will often call you out of your comfort zone, but the outcome of your obedience will be more than worth it for you and the Kingdom of God. Have faith and take the step.

D.L.