Love, Love, Love

There is a lot of talk these days about love.  Often it is in connection with comments like, “well if you love me, you will…”, or it is questioned if someone’s opinion differs from another.  Surely it can only be love, if I get something in return!  It seems it has been reduced to emotion or to shallow understanding.

Is this all there is left to love?  No! Love is so much more.

      – It is doing for another even when there is no acknowledgement or thank you.
      – It means putting up with something we don’t like or giving up something we want to do just so we can be together.
      – It sits with someone in their grief or pain – the hard places of life.
      – It may mean getting dirty so we can help another in their muddy place.

                           Love is messy.  Love is hard.  Love is sacrifice.

And suddenly in the midst of the messy – the hard – the sacrifice, we experience beauty, fullness, and true joy!

How do I know?  Because, I, like you, have been on the receiving end of God’s love and have extended love to others.  God doesn’t wait until we measure up or are perfect and clean.  He comes into our lives – into the midst of our pain, our rejection, our darkness – just to spend time with us and to show His love for us.* 

Consider this passage and know that God is the same today as then.

“When Israel was only a child, I loved him.  I called out, ‘My son!’ – called him out of Egypt.  But when others called him, he ran off and left me.  He worshipped the popular sex gods, he played at religion with toy gods.  Still, I stuck with him.  I led Ephraim, I rescued him from human bondage, but he never acknowledged my help, never admitted that I was the one pulling his wagon, That I lifted him, like a baby to my cheek, that I bent down to feed him.” (Hosea 11:1-4 The Message- italics mine)

God didn’t wait for Israel to acknowledge Him – he just loved, stuck with, rescued, lifted and fed.  This is real love.  Love that reaches out without expecting anything in return.  Love that can agree to disagree.  Love that keeps on encouraging.  Love that just wants to be together.  Let’s have that kind of love for everyone in our lives – our families, our friends, those we meet along the way, and yes, those who disagree with us or who prove to be difficult.

                  Let’s get messy in love today!

Shelley 030319 – © 2019 Shelley Ministries.  All Rights Reserved. *Concept is from a point in Pastor Rick A Conrad’s sermon given at Reeders UMC 9-10-17 entitled “God Restores” and can be heard in full at https://www.reederschurch.org/sermon-archives.html