I was walking Maui today and just felt super compelled to start praying. Lately I’ve discovered that the times I truly feel compelled to pray, I rarely know why or what I’m supposed to say, and after some random “Thank you, God, for…” some actual meat starts to come out of my words and God and I start having some serious conversation. Today it was about life, about living, and ultimately about loving.
I discovered through today’s prayer that I have no idea what life is about, and that most of us don’t, and that most of us, especially Christians, have it all wrong. We strive to be the best Christians as possible, based on what the bible says, so that we can end up in heaven one day. And there’s the problem. Being a Christian is not about having the end goal being heaven. Being a Christian is about life! It’s about living! And ultimately it’s about loving! For life without love is no life at all, it’s death.
The bible constantly tells us that we were dead, then Christ came, and we were alive. Why is that? The answer is, Christ showed us the truth about love! And after accepting Christ, the Holy Spirit resides in us and allows us to love as Christ did. But so many of us don’t get it! The bible tells us that once we become Christians our hearts are changed from a heart of stone to a heart of flesh. What’s that mean? That means that Christ’s love resides IN US! That means we can now truly love, and if we can truly love then we can truly live!
So now the question is, “what is love?” Let’s take a look at this. If you look at Disney movies then love is finding that “prince charming” that “snow white” “The One!” It’s getting stars in your eyes for someone, having extreme infatuation, and living happily ever after. That is a gross understatement of what love truly is! It’s this idea that causes so many divorces in this day an age. We are constantly looking for “The One” thinking when we find them all will be perfect and we will live happily ever after! That doesn’t happen, and when it doesn’t we say to ourselves, “they must not have been The One. Time to go searching again.”
If you look in the dictionary you get several definitions, most having to do with sexual connection or one like this “warm attachment, enthusiasm, or devotion.” And it’s always categorized as a noun. Again, this is a gross understatement of what love truly is.
Now, since we are Christians, let’s turn to the bible and see what it says about love. I think, if we really break it down, we will be quite amazed at what we find. What we find is that love is not a noun, but a verb! 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 tells us this:
I discovered through today’s prayer that I have no idea what life is about, and that most of us don’t, and that most of us, especially Christians, have it all wrong. We strive to be the best Christians as possible, based on what the bible says, so that we can end up in heaven one day. And there’s the problem. Being a Christian is not about having the end goal being heaven. Being a Christian is about life! It’s about living! And ultimately it’s about loving! For life without love is no life at all, it’s death.
The bible constantly tells us that we were dead, then Christ came, and we were alive. Why is that? The answer is, Christ showed us the truth about love! And after accepting Christ, the Holy Spirit resides in us and allows us to love as Christ did. But so many of us don’t get it! The bible tells us that once we become Christians our hearts are changed from a heart of stone to a heart of flesh. What’s that mean? That means that Christ’s love resides IN US! That means we can now truly love, and if we can truly love then we can truly live!
So now the question is, “what is love?” Let’s take a look at this. If you look at Disney movies then love is finding that “prince charming” that “snow white” “The One!” It’s getting stars in your eyes for someone, having extreme infatuation, and living happily ever after. That is a gross understatement of what love truly is! It’s this idea that causes so many divorces in this day an age. We are constantly looking for “The One” thinking when we find them all will be perfect and we will live happily ever after! That doesn’t happen, and when it doesn’t we say to ourselves, “they must not have been The One. Time to go searching again.”
If you look in the dictionary you get several definitions, most having to do with sexual connection or one like this “warm attachment, enthusiasm, or devotion.” And it’s always categorized as a noun. Again, this is a gross understatement of what love truly is.
Now, since we are Christians, let’s turn to the bible and see what it says about love. I think, if we really break it down, we will be quite amazed at what we find. What we find is that love is not a noun, but a verb! 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 tells us this:
“Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful
or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is
not irritable and it keeps no records of being wronged.
It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever
the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses
faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every
circumstance.”
That is the biblical, and I believe truest, definition of love. Now let’s break this down a little. In those verses we don’t see a noun, we see a verb. Love is patience when we are at wits in, it is kindness even to those that are not kind to us; it is the opposite of jealousy and pride. It is not rude, but considerate. All those words in italics are verbs. James 2:17 says, “So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.” Where do these good deeds from our faith come from? Love! You see, love is not merely emotion(though that s part of it), love is action! Love is the action side of our faith. Is is the way we go to God, it is how we treat our friends, our family, our significant others etc. What is faith, without love? Nothing, it is “dead and useless.” But what is love without faith? Everything! “Three things will last forever- faith, hope, and love- and the greatest of these is love.” (1 Cor. 13:13)
Now that we have established that, it’s time to talk about how love equals life. This is the easy part. When you truly grasp what love is, you put everything in it, you become truly free to live. You stop living for yourself, and you live for God, you live for your friends, for your family, for you significant other, for the random person you meet walking down the road. We can add a little to what the bible says love is and say “love is sacrifice, love is suffering.” We sacrifice our wants, needs, desires, etc. We take on others burdens and suffer them for them. We do this out of love, we do this so that others will be raised up, that others will know joy. And through their joy, we can live, because our hearts are for them, because we love them, when we see them smile nothing that we sacrificed matters, no amount of suffering we took on ourselves matter, because that smile better than anything we could have wanted. When we sacrifice and watch our loved ones succeed we succeed with them. We stop living selfishly and start living for them, and when that happens we have truly become free to truly enjoy life!
If you just read all this and are still thinking “David, that makes no sense, and is kind of stupid. How could anyone truly live by watching others succeed while we sacrifice.” Then I’m saying read the life of Jesus. He continuously sacrificed so that those around him would be healed, released, and saved. When he went to the cross he made the ultimate sacrifice for us. He gave his life, gave up any chance of success and fame so that we could succeed in life. Everything that’s said about love in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 was demonstrated that day on the cross: patience, kindness, consideration, humbleness, forgiveness, endurance, faith! He truly lived, because he truly loved!
or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is
not irritable and it keeps no records of being wronged.
It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever
the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses
faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every
circumstance.”
That is the biblical, and I believe truest, definition of love. Now let’s break this down a little. In those verses we don’t see a noun, we see a verb. Love is patience when we are at wits in, it is kindness even to those that are not kind to us; it is the opposite of jealousy and pride. It is not rude, but considerate. All those words in italics are verbs. James 2:17 says, “So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.” Where do these good deeds from our faith come from? Love! You see, love is not merely emotion(though that s part of it), love is action! Love is the action side of our faith. Is is the way we go to God, it is how we treat our friends, our family, our significant others etc. What is faith, without love? Nothing, it is “dead and useless.” But what is love without faith? Everything! “Three things will last forever- faith, hope, and love- and the greatest of these is love.” (1 Cor. 13:13)
Now that we have established that, it’s time to talk about how love equals life. This is the easy part. When you truly grasp what love is, you put everything in it, you become truly free to live. You stop living for yourself, and you live for God, you live for your friends, for your family, for you significant other, for the random person you meet walking down the road. We can add a little to what the bible says love is and say “love is sacrifice, love is suffering.” We sacrifice our wants, needs, desires, etc. We take on others burdens and suffer them for them. We do this out of love, we do this so that others will be raised up, that others will know joy. And through their joy, we can live, because our hearts are for them, because we love them, when we see them smile nothing that we sacrificed matters, no amount of suffering we took on ourselves matter, because that smile better than anything we could have wanted. When we sacrifice and watch our loved ones succeed we succeed with them. We stop living selfishly and start living for them, and when that happens we have truly become free to truly enjoy life!
If you just read all this and are still thinking “David, that makes no sense, and is kind of stupid. How could anyone truly live by watching others succeed while we sacrifice.” Then I’m saying read the life of Jesus. He continuously sacrificed so that those around him would be healed, released, and saved. When he went to the cross he made the ultimate sacrifice for us. He gave his life, gave up any chance of success and fame so that we could succeed in life. Everything that’s said about love in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 was demonstrated that day on the cross: patience, kindness, consideration, humbleness, forgiveness, endurance, faith! He truly lived, because he truly loved!
ok this is awesome, I just have to say i disagree with the part where.....
ReplyDelete"We can add a little to what the bible says love is and say “love is sacrifice, love is suffering.” We sacrifice our wants, needs, desires, etc. We take on others burdens and suffer them for them."
I understand what you want to say, I think, but I don't think that we have to suffer, didn't Jesus die, and suffer the cross so we wouldn't have to? I just don't see suffering in perfect love.
Let me know what you think and keep it coming, its really good stuff.
this is neal
I see where you're coming from, but there's also a call for us to suffer for Christ. Jesus tells his disciples that they will fce hardships, persecution, and even death for the name of Jesus Christ. This suffering keeps our own boastfulness in check.
ReplyDelete"That's why I take pleasure in my weakness, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong." 2 Corinthians 12:10
"I am glad when I suffer for you in my body, for I am participating in the sufferings of Christ that continue for his body, the church." Colossians 1:24
Suffering and Christianity go hand in hand. We are to suffer for God so that we can't boast, so that we cotinue to keep God at the forefront and now ourselves. And since God is love, when we suffer for love, we also suffer for God and vise versa.
Christ suffered the cross so we wouldn't have to suffer sin, however the earth is still Satan's realm, and we still have to suffer him, attacks, and various other persecutions. Suffering isn't a bad thing, it's a good thing, it lifts God up and us at the same time. Christianity shouldn't be safe or comfortable. Read through the books of Acts and see how Paul and his companions continuously suffered, and how through the greatest of suffering God shinned the brightest!