The Love Bug

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

Okay, so it is finally the month of February.  And what does everyone think about when they hear the word February? ...Black History Month. In 1963, a man by the name of Martin Luther King Jr. said...haha jk. Anyways, so the real answer to this question is Valentine's Day (aka Single Awareness Day). Next, what is the point of Valentine's Day? Simply put, it is to spread the love. As this holiday (which is not technically a federal holiday) has been quickly approaching, I began to think about what love really is. I soon found myself comparing human love to God's love. After doing some extensive reading I came to this conclusion...there is no comparison. Now I could stop here and this would be a rather short blog, but where is the fun in that?

On dictionary.com there are 28 definitions of love. In the verse quoted above, God gives us what looks like 15 definitions (#1-patient, #2-kind, etc); however, I believe this is not 15 definitions, it is only one. According to the world, love is anything from a score of 0 in tennis, to passionate affection, to a word that was used to communicate the letter "L." When refering to love, it can any one of these things, but it cannot be all of them at once. God gives us a completely opposite perspective though. In his definition of love, it cannot be just one of these things, but it must be all of them at once. You see, when loving someone (whether this be a spouse, friend, or even God himself), you cannot pick and choose the characteristics of love that you want to give. You must be fully committed and be willing no tot hold any part of the definition back.

The next thing that occurred to me was a challenge to myself. In my very first blog I put one of my new years resolutions. This resolution was to not have any enemies from my point of view; to love everyone no matter what they think of me.  In this resolution, I challenged myself to love people with God's love and not just human love, but this has been a complete failure. Not only have I said some very unloving things, I also came to the realization that I can never love someone with a love that is even comparable to that which God has given me. However, I will still continue to pursue this resolution despite the fact that I cannot fully succeed.

In the famous song "How He Loves Us" by David Crowder Band, one of the lyrics reads that God "loves like a hurricane, I am a tree. Bending beneath the weight of His wind and mercy." That picture of such force behind such unfailing love, is one that we as humans can never mimic. And then the lyric right after that reads, "When all of a sudden, I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory. And I realize just how beautiful You are and how great Your affections are for me." This is actually my favorite line in the whole song. It attempts to paint the picture of a God who loves us so much that He blocks out anything else that has ever been of importance or hindrance to us. Unfortunately, the attempt to paint this picture is quite possibly the biggest fail ever recorded...because although it possibly surpasses describing the epitome of human love, it is still not even on the radar of pinpointing and describing the vastness of the love our God has for us. It is indescribable and we as humans are unable to comprehend the greatness of God's unconditional love for us.

So here's the challenge, try to love everyone with the definition of love that was quoted in the beginning, and make sure it is with the whole definition, not just parts of it. Then love God to the best of your ability. You can never out-love Him, but its worth a try. :)