BACK TO THE BASICS - LOVE!
February is the month of LOVE! So, it seems appropriate that we should all focus on Love. However, we see HATE everywhere you turn in the world today. Our world today reminds me of the 1960’s with shootings, riots, political unrest, racial discrimination and unrest between nations. It seems like we’re right back where we were in the 1960’s (and that’s not a good thing). In 1965, Jackie De Shannon released a song that could apply today – “What the World Needs Now is Love, Sweet, Love. It’s the only thing that there’s just too little of.”
We, as humans, tend to focus on ourselves and, when we do, we make things very complicated. When things get crazy in my life at home, at work or even at church, I go back to the basics and make it simple. Jesus tells us to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. The second most important is similar: Love your neighbor as much as you love yourself.” You can find it in Matthew 22:35-45; Mark 12:28-34 and Luke 10:27.
We need
to go back to the basics – LOVE!
Romans
gives guidance on how we should act towards each other. Romans 12:9-15
says: “Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong.
Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take
delight in honoring each other”.
And, of
course, you can’t talk about love without siting 1 Corinthians 13: 4-7 so I’ll end with: Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not
boast, it is not proud. It does not
dishonor others, 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.
Barbara Harding
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