Love is...On Purpose
Yesterday I shared the definition of love which came out of a challenging question from a mentor.
Love is the willful behavior of seeking the highest good for another in word, heart, and deed.
Willful behavior, sounds like the way I used to describe my kids. Action on purpose.Love is an act of will. Any married couple will tell you there are days you love your spouse effortlessly, and there are days you either choose to love, or you end up unloving.Genuine, real love as described by God isn't hinged on circumstance or feelings. Consider Jesus telling this disciples to:
Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you-Matthew 5:44
Love isn't an accident. We can "fall in" affection, but to "fall in" love is much more complicated. While affections change, love endures. When affections can be dissolved by hurt, love keeps no record of wrongs. When affections would give up, love is patient.As I consider discipleship, the process of following Jesus, being changed by Jesus, and being a part of his mission, I know love is the curriculum. Loving God and loving people the two commands which sum up obedience to Christ. If love is a willful behavior, rather than a feeling or experience, it gives me some relief, and some challenge.Relief in knowing I don't have to like someone in order to love them. I don't have to feel warm to them. (As we will get to later, I do need to desire the best for them...but that's another thought)The challenge is recognizing I don't have the power in me to live that out. Only in depending on Jesus can I find the strength to love. Think about it, if it is a challenge to continually love your spouse, someone you picked out as being the one person you would commit your life to, how much more difficult is it to love the jerk at work, the guy who is always undercutting you, the constant complainer, or the ones who attack your character?Yet those are precisely who Jesus calls us to love. He would not have asked us to do this if it were not possible. He also would not have asked us to do this if he weren't going to empower us to do so. This is why the first command is to love God. We need him to give us the grace to love others as he requires.This was the easiest part of the sentence to write. I'm glad I have a weekend before I have to keep going, it doesn't get easier from here.By His Grace, For His Glory,Shaun