Love is patient, is kind. Love is not jealous. Love is not bragging, is not puffed up, is not indecent, is not self seeking, is not incensed, is not taking account of evil, is not rejoicing in injustice, yet is rejoicing together with truth, is forgoing all, is believing all, is expecting all, is enduring all. Love is never lapsing: yet, whether prophesies, they will be discarded, or languages, they will cease, or knowledge, it will be discarded.
1 Corinthians 13: 4-8, Concordant New Testament
Here in the Pacific Northwest it seems that we have jumped past our spring season and leaped right into summer. Traditionally, spring is seen as a time of renewal, of new things and of love. The fact that spring used to be one of the most popular times to plan for weddings only adds to the joy of the season. Which brings me to the point of this post. I've noticed lately that far too many people have been tossing around the L word pretty nonchalantly. It used to be that if a person were to mention the word love that it carried with it a good degree of honesty in their feelings. If someone told you that they loved you, it was a big deal. Yet something happened on the way to the altar. People began tossing about the L word without knowing or caring what meaning it carried. Now it seems that the word love has become a regular part of our daily vernacular. We love our pets. We love our favorite tv show. We love the dinner we just ate. What meaning does the word love now carry? Have we reduced it to simply a term of affection? If we truly love someone, how seriously will they take our confession? Now, I'm not innocent when it comes to proclaiming my love for people and material things. There has been many a time where I have expressed my adoration for things I have experienced. I love airplanes. I love working out. I love fishing. Anyone see where this is going? The fact is that we have relegated the word love to everyday use, which I feel takes away from it's one true meaning. Christ Jesus calls upon us to "Love one another" {John 13:34}. Did He mean for us to have a casual affection for our neighbor? No, I believe that Jesus meant for us to truly, deeply love one another as if they were our own family (which we are in Christ). We're told that the Father first loved us {1 John 4:10}. Are we to love one another as deeply and truly as God loves us? Perhaps, but that would be a huge ask for many people. How is it that we can love someone who has wronged us? Well, if we live by the words of Jesus, grace and forgiveness go a long way {Matt 18:21-22, Mark 11:5}. If we were to do this, in the words of the immortal Sam Cooke, 'What a wonderful world it would be.'
He who is not loving knew not God, for God is love.
1 John 4: 8, Concordant New Testament
The Centers For Disease Control listed the divorce rate in the United States in 2021 at 2.7 per 1,000 people. I would suggest that it is even higher than that. Yet consider this, almost all marriages began with two people saying that they love each other. So what happened? Where did the love go? Was it ever even there? Do people all too often toss around that L word without even experiencing the feeling? I would say yet to that assumption. A dear friend of mine and his wife recently celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. I once asked him his secret for staying together for so many years. His response surprised me, "Divorce wasn't an option.' That, my friends, is love AND dedication in real life. Growing up in a single parent home, I know too well the pain of divorce. I hate to admit it, but far too many people engage in throw away marriages. That is, once the rubber hits the road and times get tough they cast their spouse aside and run for cover. Divorce has now become perfectly accepted. Are we to assume that two people who love each other deeply would be so willing to throw it all away? The apostle Paul speaks to the context of love in 1 Corinthians {1 Corinthians 13: 4-8}. I believe that Paul gives us the litmus test for the love we profess for another. I dare say that these words of Paul should be required reading for all who plan on getting married. For if we exhibit these attributes, we will weather the storms of life. The Lord proclaims that a man 'Shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh' {Genesis 2:24}. Jesus tells us that whom the Father has brought together 'Let no man separate.' Love is real. Love is forever. God...is love.
And approaching, the Pharisees, trying Him, inquired of Him if it is allowed a husband to dismiss a wife. Yet He, answering, said to them, "What does Moses direct you?" Yet they say, "Moses permits us to write a scroll of divorce, and to dismiss her." And answering, Jesus said to them, "In view of your hardheartedness he writes for you this precept. Yet from the beginning of creation God makes them male and female. On this account a man will be leaving his father and mother and will be joined to his wife, and the two will be one flesh. So that no longer are they two, but one flesh. What God, then, yokes together, let no man be separating."
Mark 10: 2-9, Concordant New Testament
~Scott~
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