You can see what happens to a world without love.
It is tearing itself apart.
- Wars and conflicts across the globe.
- Killing, torturing, and persecution of innocents in the name of religion.
- Racial and deep political division here in America.
Either all roads can lead to Armageddon …
Or all roads can lead to loving one another as God loves us.
“What’s Love Got to Do With It?”
Tina Turner is known for a famous song called, “What’s Love Got to Do With It?”
In it, she sings, “What’s love but a second-hand emotion? … Who needs a heart when a heart can be broken?”
Of course, it’s just a pop song held dear by many who have fallen in and out of love.
Still, nothing is further from the truth in relation to God’s love.
No love this powerful is a second-hand emotion.
No love this great leaves a broken heart unmended, for those who are called children of God.
So, really … what’s love got to do with it?
When it comes to God, the answer is, “Everything!”
God is love.
LOVE: You can’t say it, measure it, live it, accept it, give it, or breathe it any simpler than that.
It’s a simplistic statement to make — if only there were more love in the world, we could all get along.
Maybe it can happen, perhaps it won’t.
But you can’t say we aren’t being given a chance.
To this day, God’s spirit cries out that we should live in love.
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.” – John 13:34
He sacrificed His only Son, Jesus Christ, who walked the Earth to teach us the lesson that love conquers all.
So, the next time someone asks you, “What’s love got to do with it?” you can assuredly answer … Everything!
There Is No Measure Of God’s Awesome Love
Sometimes love just comes from the simplest acts of human kindness, one to another.
You can’t worry about, “Is this a little love or is this a lot of love?”
Love is love.
A wise man once said, “The measure of love is to love without measure.”
It’s true.
Have you ever tried to measure love?
Love is without measure, just as our Creator is without measure.
Don’t look at love in terms of human standards, but look at love in terms of God’s unconditional, unfailing love for you.
He loved you first.
He will always love you, whether you love Him back or not.
Jeremiah 31:3 is a beautiful Scripture:
“The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.”
God Creates ‘Moments In Time’ To Show You His Love
Recently, I was able to feel God’s loving-kindness through His Word.
I stopped at a local sandwich place just before lunchtime.
As I ordered, I noticed a young homeless-type man, laughing to himself, zig-zagging through the parking lot with a shopping cart.
He was unkempt, filthy, dirty, and he was looking at the sandwich shop.
I asked the clerk, “Does he ever come in here?”
She just smiled and said, that’s Mike, and sometimes he does.
He stood nervously outside the window … and then he slowly walked in.
I will admit, I felt slightly uncomfortable, but why?
Was it because he was so filthy?
Was I worried he might talk to me?
I’m pretty good at weeding out the hustler’s who shake people down for their last dollar.
But this poor man just stood in the corner, careful to not affect the business or get in anyone’s way.
He didn’t say a word.
My thoughts went to the portion in Matthew where the Son of Man Judges the Nations (Matthew 25:31-46, also known as the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats).
Will You Feed ‘The Least Of These’?
“Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’” – Matthew 25:40
Perhaps the Lord led him to the sandwich shop at precisely that moment to see if someone would “feed the least of these.”
My heart melted.
It practically reduced me to tears in front of the clerk and this man.
Like the old Jews, I wanted to tear my clothes and cry out for God to forgive such a pompous old man!
There was a childlike innocence to Mike as he twitched and played with his dirty hair in the corner.
He kept looking at his hand…as if counting coins that didn’t exist.
I think he was more scared of me than I was of him.
I walked to over to him and said, “Sir, would you like a sandwich?”
I looked into his eyes.
They were as clear — and he appeared as sane — as any one of us.
“Yes … I would,” he said.
“Then go ahead and order something from the menu and I will pay for it,” I replied.
“Thank you,” he smiled.
For some reason, he reminded me of the little kid in all of us.
He was just hungry.
And God is so good to me, I certainly could afford another sandwich.
Jesus’ parable of sharing God’s love is so important, I include all of Matthew 25: 31-46 here.
“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory.
All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left.
Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’
“Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’
And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’
“Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’
“Then they also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’
Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
What’s love got to do with it? Everything!
God allowed His Son, Jesus, to be sacrificed on the Cross to pay for our sins, once and for all time.
That’s love!
He redeemed us by His love.
He makes us whole again by His Love.
And I firmly believe that we can only learn to truly love others by loving Him first.
Many of us think we love God.
At least we say we do.
Given a chance, how do we show our love to God, or show others God’s love for them?
Do you truly love others like Jesus loves you?
Sometimes the answer to that question is as simple as buying a sandwich…
0 Comments