Keeping the Faith: Love

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

1 Corinthians 13:13 (NIV)

Love is discussed all over the place in the Bible but we see its importance here at the conclusion of Corinthians 13. Also in this chapter, we learn the characteristics of love. We learn that love is patient and kind and that it does not boast or envy (verse 4). These are important because they help us to know how to love one another.

Sometimes it is just plain hard to love some people. Sometimes not showing love is just easier. Have you ever gone to the store in need of one item and spent 15 minutes in the checkout line? Did you blame the cashier? That is always my initial response.  But it isn't the cashier's fault.

What about when someone else gets something that you wanted? An award or some sort of recognition, perhaps, that you thought you deserved. It's so easy to get a little green when something like that happens. It is also easy to blame the person.

I try diligently to be a loving person, but I have an ugly lack of patience. Yet I challenge you to do your very best to show love to all people and all situations because it is so important. And let's not forget how good it feels to be loved. If we show love, we are much more likely to receive love in return. It is a win-win.

I read somewhere that love is always grace. At first I didn't get it, but someone was kind enough to explain it to me this way: "Love is regardless of imperfection because there is no such thing as perfection. You love people because and not despite."

God loves us more than we can fathom, and he knows everything about us. We don't deserve it, as we are fallen, but we are still loved. God illustrates for us the ultimate act of love in sending Jesus to the cross for us so our sin isn't relevant anymore. So maybe I can try a little harder, considering God loves me limitlessly even though I don't deserve it.

So now we know it's important; we know what it looks like; and we might be able to see when we aren't so good at it.  But how do we actually do it? How do we purposefully show love to others? I wish I had an easy how-to for you to follow, but I don't. I think it might be different for everyone.

Maybe try and show love in a way that you haven't before. You could try to pick one of the characteristics listed in 1 Corinthians: 13 and try and exercise love in that way. Once you've mastered it, choose another. There are many ways to show love. The important thing is that we do. So try loving people because this week. Because you can, because they are people, because you are supposed to, whatever you wish. Just love.