this love theme....

I'm the worst offender in overusing the word and cheapening it to a superficial add-on in a sentence. I can't seem to get away from this theme. So now I'm on a quest and going deeper.

Yes, I LOVE chocolate, especially on certain days.
I LOVE my '64 VW bug named "Frappy", I LOVE the color.
I LOVE sunny days and the ocean waves.
I LOVE training and doing sprint triathlons....Yeah, I love it all.

Although most everyone probably understands that my 'love' for these things is not equally distributed and may even vary from day to day (I hate chocolate on those days when I'm prone to indulge in overeating it and trying to watch sugar intake; I'm less in love with Frappy when she's being an old car and acting 'crappy'.....Did she forget her name? Supposed to be happy!) - I want to clarify that in most of these situations my 'love' is more a very strong like and I guess it doesn't leave much room for going after authentic love.

So I'm getting off the superficial train ride for a minute. I want to stop off in the field of love and graze awhile. What does it look like? After listening to Ravi's podcast yesterday, I was reminded that even my 'best' efforts to love people fall so short. I don't know the first thing about love. If genuine, authentic love begins with a genuine, authentic God and his definition, that it has to do with our intrinsic worth no matter what we bring to the table, then that's the field I need to stop and graze in for awhile.

Why am I so motivated today to pursue this line of thought?
Well, every once in awhile I get stirred in my thoughts and realize that
1) this life is short.
2) what's the purpose?

And then I come back to a simple faith. As a Christ-follower, He showed us how to keep it simple. Love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. Love others, even your neighbors, as yourself. Sounds simple right? Not when your definition of love is superficial. And that's where the train wreck was in sight for me again today. So, I needed to get off and let that train continue without me.

Here's what I discovered. I'm often trapped in my own mind and my own perception of what love looks like. I have no idea how to live outside of myself and my own ways. And then I'm reminded of a small sentence I've read before "God is love."
And then I open up the love chapter to read about "the way of love" in 1 Cor 13. My memory is jolted and I find myself shaving off layers of superficial 'love' that often pervades my life.

Let me just share it with you

"If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. If I speak God's word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day and if I ahve faith that says to a mountain, "Jump" and it jumps, but I don't have love, I'm nothing. If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love.
Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn't want what it doesn't have.
Love doesn't strut,
Doesn't have a swelled head,
Doesn't force itself on others,
Isn't always 'me first'
Doesn't fly off the handle,
Doesn't keep score of the sins of others
Doesn't revel when others grovel
takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.
Love never dies. Inspired speech will be over some day; ...understanding will reach its limit. We know only a portion of the truth and what we say about God is always incomplete. But when the Complete arrives, our incompletes will be canceled.....but for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love."

More times than I care to recount, my life is filled with everything opposite of this. I speak words eloquently and because words are a big part of the way I express myself as an extrovert, I find myself doing this a lot. What about the times when there's no love behind it. I may even share things that are true and make it plain but my heart isn't in it. My faith is strong but when there's no authentic love there, I'm empty. And just like this text reads, alot of times I associate 'love' or being loving with doing good deeds - helping someone in need, helping the poor. Working with missions and sending students to the least reached areas of the world, I'm inspired by stories of missionaries who have been burned at the stake for their faith. They may have been walking in love, but me? Hmmmm. How deep is it really pulsing through my veins?

No matter what I say, what I believe, what I do -- If I am without God's love pumping, pounding and pulsing through my veins, I am bankrupt. I lose everything! If God is love and if HE is what I need pumping, pounding and pulsing through my veins, then this is a glimpse of what I am asking God to renew in my heart.

His love never gives up. He cares more for others than I do. He doesn't strut even his goodness for others to see but unfolds His love in subtle, humble ways. He doesn't force himself on others. He doesn't fly off the handle, doesn't keep score of the sins of others and takes pleasure in seeing authenticity and truth. He puts up with anything and He always looks for the best. He ALWAYS looks for the best. Wow. Do I? God never looks back, but keeps going to the end.

And lest I give up hope in this quest, I'm reminded that everything I say and do is incomplete until the day things are completed and finished in me, the day I die, I guess. For now, I have three things to do. Trust steadily, hope unswervingly and love extravagantly.

I don't think I'll ever master this quest but I want to renew the depths of authentic love and make it a lifetime goal. It's good to remember my incompleteness and His perfection. It's good to get off the train once in awhile, stop and graze on the good stuff. Love is the good stuff and that's what I want in life.