1 Nov 2010
Whats love got to do with it?
Love hurts
I am continuing my series of posts about Paul’s charge to Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:12.
After speech and life, Paul exhorts Timothy to set an example in love.
Its been a while since I last wrote. Since then I have been to Canberra and South Australia. All the while I have had in the back of my head that I had to write my next blog about love.
For me love is a bit of a daunting subject.
It feels like so much has been written about love, and yet there is so much confusion.
Something Mother Theresa said about love in her 1979 Nobel Prize acceptance speech stands out:
“It is not enough for us to say: “I love God, but I do not love my neighbor.” Saint John says that you are a liar if you love God and you don’t love your neighbor. How can you love God whom you do not see, if you do not love your neighbor whom you see, whom you touch, with whom you live? And so this is very important for us to realize, that love, to be true, has to hurt.”
If its true that we have to set an example in love, then we need to be prepared to be hurt.
Love certainly isn’t easy.
Paul spells out the qualities of love in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, 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. Love never fails.
I love that Paul tells us that love is the most important thing, however in saying that he takes away my excuses.
As someone who does a bit of talking, I know I need to face 1 John 3:18:
Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.
I love the directness of that verse, and the way it speaks to me.
Part of the reason I have been hesitant to write about love is that I don’t feel much like an expert, and that my words seem a little shallow.
I know I am on a journey to learn to love. I hope the people around me will forgive all the times I don’t.
I want to love.
Thanks Matt,
This one has hit close to my heart. Struggling with loving some people at the moment so this is a very timely reminder. How much do I love God if I don’t even love some people in my Church family?
I need to love even when I hurt.
Judy
November 1st, 2010 at 10:49 pmpermalink