Pulpit Reflections

About this time every year, someone asks me to define "love" for them. Love has been used to define the crudest pornography all the way to Christ's crucifixion. While I may find it hard to define, I think we can see what love does. Love is seen in deeds. This is what the Bible seeks to tell us. In the Bible the word love is usually a verb, not a noun. It calls us to action:

"Love … as I have loved you" – John 13:34

"Beloved, let us love one another" – 1 John 4:7

"God so loved the world that he gave" – John 3:16

"Love your neighbor" – Matthew 19:19

"Love your enemies" – Luke 6:27

You soon see that love is something that you do. In order to truly understand love, we need to see how that highest expression of love – Jesus Christ – lived. Read your Bible and you will find that love doesn't stop when trouble comes, when suffering comes or when problems arise. Instead, love tackles them head-on.

Are you in love so much that you will never quit loving, no matter how difficult things may get? That's the high call of love but too often people settle for less – for cheaper imitations of love. I believe that the more committed to Christ that we are, the more we will find ourselves loving each other the way we should. You want your life to be better? You want your marriage to be better? You want more out of life? Then get your commitment to Christ better! It sounds easy, but it will be the toughest commitment you will ever make – but it will bring to you the greatest joy you have ever known.