Love Love Love

I've been thinking all week about love. I keep asking myself "what is love?"  1 Corinthians 13:4-7,13 says "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... And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."

I've been trying to figure out how to love people. How do I love people? How do I love my family? How do I love my friends? How do I love my co-workers? 

I've failed to help a friend in need because of my selfishness. I've watered love down.

I've said that I cared or love people but haven't backed those words up with actions. I've made love flippant. 

I've said I love food or clothes or a movie. I've thrown love around casually.

I've spoken carelessly, harshly, unkindly and unfairly. I've forgotten to love altogether.

What is love? 

1 John 4:9-10 "This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. "

What is love?

I think love has become a word used to describe feeling, but when the Bible talks about love it is an ACTION! 

I can say I love my brother, but that means nothing if it isn't backed by actions. This morning my brother asked me for a ride to the bus stop because he was running late. My reaction was not instantly willing or kind. If I gave him a ride, I would have to leave earlier than normal for work, which meant less time to get ready. I gave him a ride, not because I wanted to, but because I love him. Love was in the act of giving him a ride. I can tell him I love him every day, but I would fail to love him, if I didn't put that love into action.

This is love: 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 "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."

The Bible says that love is greater than faith. "And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." (1 Cor 13:13) 

Let that sink in for a moment. Love is greater than faith.

What does that mean for us?

Faith is believing, but love is put into action.

"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." (1 Corinthians 13:1-3)

How will you put love into action in your life?