loved.

cliche but appropriate? sure.
always appropriate.

as much as i am lost about the subject, i thought i would devote at least a little time to searching out some truth for my own understanding. so here's some reflection on love...



i once heard a sermon on 1 Corinthians 13 that challenged us to replace the word 'love' with our name:

"_____ is patient, _____ is kind. _____ does not envy, _____ does not boast, _____ is not proud. _____ is not rude, _____ is not self-seeking, _____ is not easily angered, _____ keeps no record of wrongs. _____ does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. _____ always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. _____ never fails." - 1 Corinthians 13:4-8

(hence the challenge.) we are not always patient, kind, humble, polite, trusting, etc... but i strive.

i have a hard time understanding love, but i know i want to live & be it.
i experience it but often don't recognize it.
i seek it from imperfect sources.
& yet He chooses to love me through my limitations.

"The LORD your God is with you, He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing." - Zephaniah 3:17

"Yet the LORD set His affection on your forefathers and loved them, and He chose you, their descendants, above all the nations, as it is today." - Deuteronomy 10:15

"The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: 'I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.'" - Jeremiah 31:3

"And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, & to know this love that surpasses knowledge — that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." - Ephesians 3:17-19

from what i have grasped of it, love is a hunger. it seeks after knowledge & understanding. it is unquenchable in its desire for discovery, yet selflessly longs & strives to serve well.

Christ, in His great love, seeks us out & desires to walk in relationship with us & bring us joy. His relationship with us is not about need or control; it is entirely rooted in love. He knows us & desires to be with us so much that He willingly suffered & died in our place that we might recognize His sacrifice & seek to be with Him in return.

"For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." - John 3:16

"Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." - John 15:13 [& He did.]

"This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers." - 1 John 3:16

"But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." - Romans 5:8

"But the man who loves God is known by God." - 1 Corinthians 8:3

the missing piece is that we so often fail to love Him in return, which is a constant source of pain... even moreso because we are not someone that He is going to 'get over.' He already died for us & is committed to pursuing us so that we can experience the life He died to bring us. 'accepting Jesus into our hearts' means more than just recognizing His sacrifice; it means loving Him in return.

"Whoever has My commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves Me. He who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I too will love him and show Myself to him... Jesus replied, 'If anyone loves Me, he will obey My teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.'" - John 14:21,23

"The man who says, 'I know Him,' but does not do what He commands is a liar, and the truth is not in Him. But if anyone obeys His word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in Him: Whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus did." - 1 John 2:4-6

"'Because he loves Me,' says the LORD, 'I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges My name.'" - Psalm 91:14

"Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls." - 1 Peter 1:8-9

"As the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you. Now remain in My love. If you obey My commands, you will remain in My love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in His love... My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you." - John 15:9-10,12

"This is love for God: to obey His commands. And His commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith." - 1 John 5:3-4

"When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, 'Simon son of John, do you truly love Me more than these?' 'Yes, Lord," he said, 'You know that I love You.' Jesus said, 'Feed My lambs.'
Again Jesus said, 'Simon son of John, do you truly love Me?' He answered, 'Yes, Lord, you know that I love You.' Jesus said, 'Take care of My sheep.'
The third time He said to him, 'Simon son of John, do you love Me?' Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, 'Do you love Me?' He said, 'Lord, You know all things; You know that I love you.' Jesus said, 'Feed My sheep.'" - John 21:15-17

God is love. He is so much more complex & sufficient in His love, though, than any of the forms we get to experience through others. i am thankful for the opportunity to love people & experience love through relationships because i see each of those glimpses as a facet on an immense globe through which Christ radiates His love. i look forward to experiencing God's love more completely & learning selfless love by living it out. in the meantime, i can always love God & love people better, so here are some more good words...

"Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; His love endures forever." - 1 Chronicles 16:34

"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!" - 1 John 3:1

"Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God." - Ephesians 5:1-2

"And this is love: that we walk in obedience to His commands. As you have heard from the beginning, His command is that you walk in love." - 2 John 1:6

"We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us." - 1 Thessalonians 2:8

"Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed His love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and His love is made complete in us.
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like Him. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
We love because He first loved us. If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And He has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother." - 1 John 4:7-12,16-21

"And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ." - Philippians 1:9-10

"But just as you excel in everything — in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us — see that you also excel in this grace of giving. I am not commanding you, but I want to test the sincerity of your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich." - 2 Corinthians 8:7-9

"The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love." - Galatians 5:6

"Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth." - John 3:18

"Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts." - Deuteronomy 6:5-6

on your marks, get set, love.