I've blogged a lot about love. But as I grow, I learn more and more about what that word really means.
I think we throw the word around a lot, but I don't necessarily think that's a bad thing. We say, "I love that car," or "I love this weather," and things of that nature. We tell our friends, our family, our significant others, even our pets, that we love them. I've heard some people say that throwing the word "love" around isn't something we should do, but wouldn't the world be a better place if we all threw love, actual love, around more?
Love isn't an emotion. Not really. It's a way of living. A choice. A gift. To love someone is probably the greatest gift we can give, but it's also something great we can do for ourselves. I know that when I love on someone, whether it's my best friend, my mom or dad or brother, or a complete stranger, I have this peace that washes over me. And while I don't claim to have all the answers, or even a small fraction of the answers, I think I have an idea of why that might be.
Let me try to break it down for my own sense of clarity. God is love. Jesus calls us to love. God loves on us. We should love on each other.
In Matthew 5 we are told to love our enemies as well as our neighbors. What a radical notion. Love your enemies. Love your neighbors. What I think Jesus is asking us to do here is just to love, without bias, with wild abandon.
"9 In this was manifested the love of God toward us: that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. 10 Herein is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another." (1 John 4:9-11)
I think we all (myself definitely included) should be kinder to people. Should be more understanding of people. Should have more conversations with people. And not just the people we already know. Talk to a stranger, ask them about their day. I wanna have the boldness to go out of my way to love on someone just because I can. There have been times when someone has shown me kindness, and they didn't even know me, and it made my day so much brighter.
Love is beautiful. Love is wonderful. Love is a real, powerful, vibrant force. I think we should all explore it a little more.
