True.Love
I’m single. Most everyone I know is aware of this. It’s not for lack of trying, it’s just the way things are.
Valentine’s Day was yesterday, and in the past, I have labeled it “Singles Awareness Day” or some other name dripping with bitterness.
This year though, I actually spent time thinking about love instead of trying to ignore the day.
I reflected on the love that I have in God, and how powerful and overwhelming that is.
Almost 12 years ago, I made an exchange with God. He gave me an eternal, abundant life, and I gave Him my heart.
Then at Late Nite, as Pastor Jeff was talking about love, he read and dissected 1 Corinthians 13:1-11. I have included verses 1-7 below:
“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. 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.”
Jeff talked about us as human beings and our selfishness in love, and that we must love like verses 4-6 describe. It was a great reminder that I have growing to do, that my display of love is imperfect, and that love is not about what I get from it, but what I can give/show to others.
But I was also reminded of 1 John 4:8, which reminds us that “God is love”.
Replace “love” in the verses of 1 Corinthians 13 with “God”, and you have an incredible picture of God’s character, and who we are without Him.
So, this Valentine’s Day, and every day of the year, I know that I have someone who loves me unconditionally.
Do I still want to meet, court, and marry a Godly woman? Heck yes I do! But until that day comes, I am content with where I’m at, and with the abundant love that I have been given.
And I can say with all of the conviction I could possibly muster up, that God loves you.
Know that, feel that, live in that realization.
Grace & Peace
