There is a simple four letter word that had me stumped. The four letter word that made me question everything I thought I knew about the word. A word that I have freely given, received, and been shown throughout my entire life. It is a word that I hear from my family every time we end a phone conversation or leave the house. It’s a word that holds a lot of weight and meaning.
LOVE.
I sat in my quiet room soaking in the view of the massive mountains. The serenity and calmness of the pond below the window; where the sunlight brightly reflected its light. I observed the swishing back and forth of the trees as they were forced to move by the wind.
Calm.
Powerful.
Beautiful.
Creation.
The Lord carefully hand crafted the scene before me: from the big details of the mountains, creating a breathtaking silhouette against the bright blue sky; to the smallest of details of the ants crawling over my Bible to reach the small bread crumbs on the table from my toast. As well as the sweet silence of reflection and anticipation of the Lord’s voice.
My Bible was opened to 1 Peter 1:22. The verse says,
“Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for you brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart”.
The word love is expressed several different times throughout the word. I sat in my plastic white chair looking out at the scenery and crying out to the Lord to tell me what love really is. Love that is expressed through actions, love through discipline, love through guidance, and so many other ways to LOVE just like the scene before my very eyes. But, what does it truly mean to love from the heart?
For some reason that morning I couldn’t get my mind to fully grasp love. I couldn’t grasp how to feel it, give it, receive it, or any other aspect of the word. It literally was just a word; a word that I couldn’t fully comprehend. You know when you’re teaching a child how to count for the first time? They just keep repeating numbers in random order and not really comprehending that they actually go in a particular order? Yeah, that’s how I felt that morning. Maybe, just maybe, that’s because we can’t fully comprehend all of the facets that the word love really is. The Lord tells us in the word that there are things that our human brains can’t comprehend. I was confident this must be one of them.
I later had a conversation with one of my squad mates about my conversation with the Lord. She told me about her relationship with a fellow squad mate and how based on their personalities there is no way in the world that they would ever be friends. She is introverted and the other is very extroverted. She explained to me that it’s through love that they are able to be friends. That when we quite seeing people as opposites and getting frustrated with them, we begin to view them through the eyes of love, we begin to develop unlikely friendships.
It’s love that brings people together. It’s love that cultivates patience with those that are different from ourselves. It is love that allows us to appreciate the scenery. It’s a four letter word that has so much to offer. To love is a commitment and way more than just four letters. I’m so glad that the Lord’s love is unconditional and endures forever. My prayer is that I can love like Jesus and take hold of those four letters and make it a lifestyle. I pray that I will continue the journey of discovering new ways to love.
I encourage you to embrace the times that the Lord allows you to forget things. Such as what love is, because it enables us to explore, discover, and experience those things all over again. It’s just another way that He loves us!
This blog is from a few months ago regarding my time in Thailand. My new team and I are headed to Honduras for month 9!
Your continued prayers and notes of encouragement are so appreciated, thank you!
