Love

I'm speaking about love this Sunday. Here is my article for Sunday's bulletin:

Nothing is more thought about. I don’t think anything is probably more talked about either. It is what we all long for.

It means different things to different people. The two teenagers think it is one thing. The young mother thinks it quite different. The couple celebrating their 50th Wedding Anniversary have a different perspective.

In the Bible the Greek word used for love is agape. It is interesting that agape is a verb. It’s not an adjective. It is not something we feel. It is something we do. A biblical view of love is not something like: “I am in love with him.” It is more: “I love him.” On the cross Jesus wasn’t thinking, “I’m in love with that person.” But he was able to say, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.”

So what does this mean for us? Well, it means either nothing or it means everything. It means nothing if you want to continue to believe that love is something you feel. The problem with love as a feeling comes in a question: What happens when you no longer feel the love?

It means everything when we begin to understand that love is something we do. We do it when we feel like it. We do it when we don’t feel like it. We do it to people we feel like loving and we do it to people we don’t feel like loving. Love has nothing to do with the other person. It has only to do with our own character and integrity. Again: let me point you to our Lord on the cross.

When asked what the most important thing in the world was: Jesus said it was to love. Love God, love others, and have a healthy love of self. Paul tells us what love is and what it’s not:

Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

There is one more thing I want you to think about. Jesus says that the world will know that we are his disciples by our love. My dream for the church is simple: that we are lovers of God and lovers of people. It is the thing that we do. We invite others, we care for others, we pray for others, we serve others, we give to others, we forgive others, we encourage others, and on and on and on. And, we are blessed because we are loving. And, the world will know that we are disciples by our love.

Training Update:

2 mile warm-up.

5 miles with 400 at 5:45 pace followed by 400 recovery at 7:00 pace. Christy and I did 31:45 for the 5 miles.

2 mile cool-down.