Tiffany Hayes

Love= A word. A feeling. An action. A commitment. A choice.

I love you. Can be a phrase carelessly thrown about. But what is love really?! Is it just a word we say? A feeling we feel? An action we take to show someone else? It’s more than just a word, it’s a feeling we feel, an action we take, a choice we make and a commitment. Here’s why…

 God is Love, a feeling.(1 John 4:16) Let’s define love according to Webster’s dictionary. It’s a noun, an intense feeling of deep affection, a person or thing that one loves. It’s also a verb, to feel a deep romantic or sexual attachment with someone. Let’s talk about the noun “love”. If God is Love, this means He is an intense feeling of deep affection, someone that one loves. Hmmm….so….He loves us too?! In the familiar passage John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not parish but have eternal life.” Love is an action; God gave us His only Son! Why? Why would He do this? Because, He loves us and wants to save the world through Jesus. God so Loved the world. Loved, in Strong’s concordance means…unconditional love, love by choice and by an act of the will. “Agape” love is the word for Gods unconditional love. Jesus came to reflect and reveal God (Colossians 1) Jesus, as the Son of God, came to die for us and free us from sin. Sin has separated us from God’s holiness, so peace could only be made through someone perfect. That was Jesus (vv. 14, 20). In other words, Jesus has given us what no one else could—access to God and eternal life (John 17:3). Love is a commitment and a choice. Choosing to love and follow Jesus is a choice, a choice we all must make and commit our lives to Him. Jesus says in John 13:34 We are called to love each other just as I have loved you, you should love each other.

Choosing to love others and being committed to love. Love your spouse even in difficult times, love your children, the ones you gave birth to and the ones you didn’t, love your family and friends even when you don’t see eye to eye. Love that stranger in the store, the homeless on the corner. Love the ones that hurt you and want to cause you turmoil. I don’t know about you but loving people is both easy and hard. It’s easy to love when everything is going right and love the people that love you back. But it’s hard to love at times when it’s not smooth sailing and the waves are crashing in. Loving your enemies is tough if I can be honest. But once you make the commitment and choice to do so, and call on The One who first loved us, He makes it easier. Can you imagine how God feels when His children refuse to love Him? But you know what? He refuses to give up on them; He refuses to give up on you. He leaves the 99 to go after the one. (Matthew 18:12, Luke 15:4)

If God refuses to give up on us, then why should we be so quick to give up on LOVE? After all, God is LOVE.

What do you choose? Who do you choose to love? How do you choose to love? What are you committed to?

Father God, I thank you for never giving up on me. I thank you for never giving up on Your children. I thank you for having grace and mercy on us every day. Please help us to strengthen our love for You. Strengthen our love for each other. In these end days as we wait patiently for Your beautiful Son to come back, let us not forget to love one another. Helps us to not forget what LOVE is and stands for. Continue to shower your Love on us and continue to forgive us. In Jesus precious name, Amen.