To wrap-up this series, I thought it only fitting to do a post about Love on this Easter weekend. I know that people everywhere will be blogging about Love and Passion and God this weekend, but I wanted to take this a slightly different way from the way I have written about love in the past.
World English Dictionary
| love (lʌv) | |
| — vb | |
| 1. | ( tr ) to have a great attachment to and affection for |
| 2. | ( tr ) to have passionate desire, longing, and feelings for |
| 3. | ( tr ) to like or desire (to do something) very much |
| 4. | ( tr ) to make love to |
| 5. | ( intr ) to be in love |
| — n | |
| 6. | a. an intense emotion of affection, warmth, fondness, andregard towards a person or thing |
| b. ( as modifier ): love song ; love story | |
| 7. | a deep feeling of sexual attraction and desire |
| 8. | wholehearted liking for or pleasure in something |
| 9. | Christianity |
| a. God’s benevolent attitude towards man | |
| b. man’s attitude of reverent devotion towards God | |
| 10. | Also: my love a beloved person: used esp as an endearment |
| 11. | informal ( Brit ) a term of address, esp but not necessarilyfor a person regarded as likable |
| 12. | (in tennis, squash, etc) a score of zero |
| 13. | fall in love to become in love |
| 14. | for love without payment |
| 15. | ( used with a negative ) for love or money in anycircumstances: I wouldn’t eat a snail for love or money |
| 16. | for the love of for the sake of |
I went to dictionary.com and there are even more definitions than what I have listed here. Then when you do a search at biblegateway.com there are 484 references of the word Love.
John 3:16
New American Standard Bible (NASB)
16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His [a]only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
- John 3:16 Or unique, only one of His kind
What better show of love is there than what God did for us? God gave up a piece of himself, as a sacrifice for us to be able to spend eternity with him. So many times we get a distorted idea of what love really is. We use the word love about so many different things, we love songs, we love cars, movies, tv shows, etc. But when it comes to loving people, and being in love with someone, the feeling of love comes and goes. Look at the high rate of divorce in our country, and when you talk to people that are divorced or separated, a lot of times you will hear them say that they just fell out of love.
But what God did for us, is the type of love that we should be striving for. True love and passion for God and for others is love that gives up part of yourself, to benefit the other person. In most cases, the other person will give back and give up part of themselves for you. A true relationship is not one-sided, and too many times this is not the case, one side does all of the giving. Too many times we take advantage of the gift of Love that God has given us. God has only asked for us to listen and follow Him, to love our neighbors as ourselves. We have so much to be thankful for and so little to do, to show our love back to God.
What are you willing to give up to follow Christ? What part of yourself are you willing to give up for your spouse, family, friends? Are you willing to go out of your way to do something for them, to step out of your comfort zone?
Love is not easy, it is to be cherished and fought for. Jesus told his disciples, that the world would hate them, but to remember that it hated Him first. And in marriages, you must always be willing to fight to keep your love alive. The day that you say, “It can’t happen to us…”, is the day that trouble will begin. You must guard your heart and guard your love. Stand up for love, and for what matters in life.
God was will to have His own Son die, to show His love for us, what else is there to give up….
Ramblings of a Christian Father 