I think one of the most overused words in the english language is love. I love that show. I love your dress. I love mexican food. I love to dance. I love my dog. I love my car. I love my mom. I love you. The list goes on and on. We say that we "love" food, clothes, social media, animals and people.With a definition that is so watered down,its no wonder that we don't know have any clue what love actually is.
"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 record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. LOVE NEVER FAILS."
1 Corinthians 13:4-8
Christians write this passage EVERYWHERE. On cute little picture frames or wall decorations, on sympathy cards or etched into jewelry. I would venture to say its one of the most quoted passages in scripture, so why is it one of the least practiced?
People often see it as "cliche" but there is nothing cliche about these words. Cliche is defined as obvious or repeated regularly without thought or originality. I know few people who repeat these actions regularly, and none that do so without thought. Love, actual love, not the media crap, is hard work.
And the thing about love, is that Jesus is completely serious about it. His death freed us from the law of the old testament, yet he told his followers these are my commands: " 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." Matthew 22: 37-38.
When Jesus says your neighbor he isn't talking about just our family members, or our best friends, but everyone that is around us. The people we like and more importantly the people we don't. Matthew 5:44 says " Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you". So the people that drive you absolutely crazy, cheat you, or break your heart…those are the people to pray for and to love.
Love is not a word, and when it becomes just a word it loses its power and splendor. Love is an action. Love is Jesus being nailed to a cross, separated from His perfect relationship with God, to forgive humanity.
Love is having patience and grace when someone at work makes the same mistake every single day. Love is responding with kindness, when other people lash out in anger or frustration. Love does not envy when other people get credit for work you have poured hours into. Love does not boast of your own successes, but acknowledges that without Christ we cannot succeed. Love is not proud when other people who we don't like or agree with fail or need help. Love is not rude, even after days of no sleep or irritating circumstances. Love is not self seeking, it always sees and acts on the needs of others in front of our own. Love keeps no record of wrongs, no matter how many times someone wrongs you. Love always protects all of those who God calls his children, always trusts even in the darkness, always hopes in the midst of despair, and always perseveres even when all seems lost. Love never fails.
I wonder what a revolution we could start if we start loving in such a way where these words actually became cliche. If they actually became obvious and regularly repeated without thought. Love doesn't look anything like the world, love looks everything like Jesus.
