February 13, 2011

What is love?

"Love is everything it's cracked up to be. That's why people are so cynical about it...It really is worth fighting for, risking everything for. And the trouble is, if you don't risk everything, you risk even more." - Erica Jong

"Where love is, no room is too small." - Talmud

"Love is an act of endless forgiveness, a tender look which becomes a habit." - Peter Ustinov

"You come to love not by finding the perfect person, but by seeing an imperfect person perfectly." - Sam Keen



Here is a love story I once heard, and I haven't ever been able to forget it:

There once was a young couple who found out that they were expecting a baby. They weren't married and they were afraid what their families would think. When it was almost time for the baby to come, they took the road trip back to his hometown to see the family. On the way, they decided to stop for the night, since the expectant mother was getting tired. After trying a few different places, they realized they were not going to find a place to stay. There was some sort of convention in town that had drawn a lot of people. No hotel had an open room. Determined that they were too tired to go on, they found a little field behind the last hotel they visited, and decided to sleep under a pavilion, of sorts. Luckily, there was hay to sleep on, so the ground didn't seem so hard. It seemed like this place may have been used to house animals at some point in time, but they didn't care, they were tired and just needed a little sleep.

However, in the middle of the night, the expectant mother woke her boyfriend and told him it was time to have the baby. Before they knew it, they had a baby boy, right there in that field.

Years went by and that boy grew to be a confident young man, and was even quite outspoken at times. The mom was proud of her son, except for when he would get so involved in conversations with adults, that she didn't even realize he had stayed behind when she moved on.

This boy eventually grew into a great young adult. She even invited him to the marriage of some friends. He came, and brought some of his friends with him. Its a good thing he decided to show up, because the married couple actually ended up asking for his help with a little problem they had. He lent a helping hand, and everything went better than they could have imagined.

One day, a crowd came and blamed the son of things that he had not done. They accused him falsely, sentenced him with no trial, beat him, dragged him up a hill and hung him on a cross.

They broke his legs and pierced his side with a sword, although he forgave them because they didn't know what they were doing.

He breathed his last breath, letting go, dying, and releasing the salvation of God to every person on earth.

Which is the greatest love story: The one of young love in trouble, or the one of our God giving His everything? He went from that bastard child of Mary and Joseph, to Savior of the world. His death sent a physical shock wave through the earth. The veil in the temple was ripped from to to bottom as the Holy Spirit was released to enter the earth and be our Helper. All because a baby boy born to unmarried parents in an old dirty field used for animals raised Himself up to be a legacy.

So, what IS love?

John 15:13 Amplified Bible (AMP)
No one has greater love [no one has shown stronger affection] than to lay down (give up) his own life for his friends.

1 John 3:16 The Message (MSG)
This is how we’ve come to understand and experience love: Christ sacrificed his life for us. This is why we ought to live sacrificially for our fellow believers, and not just be out for ourselves.