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Pastor's Thoughts
February is a month in which we often think about love, because of Valentine’s Day of course. I’ve been thinking about two things this year as Valentine’s Day approaches. I’ve thought about the famous verse of Scripture on love, 1 Corinthians 13:4-8. I’ve been thinking about myself and wondering if I measure up at all to this, God’s vision of love. How well do I love others, especially those whom I ought to love the most? And I’ve been thinking about the people who love me and really appreciating the ways in which their love is reflected in this verse of Scripture. Here is the famous verse from the NIV Bible:
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 selfseeking, 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.
What a list! Patience, kindness, selflessness, humility, civility, even-temperedness, forgiveness, goodness, truth, sacrifice, trust, hope, and perseverance to the very end! How will I ever show all those qualities to my five children, especially when they are wrestling, wrecking and wreaking havoc for the tenth time in a day??? How will I show those qualities to my wife when I am tired or sick, or just “in a mood”? And if I have trouble showing those qualities to my wife and children, how will I ever keep the second great commandment, to love my neighbor as myself?
Well first, though I must strive to love as God has commanded, I know that I cannot do it perfectly because I am a sinner! So again I must rely on the grace of God and the forgiveness purchased for me by Jesus Christ on the Cross!
But secondly, that long list of good things love does that I have trouble doing makes me think of another famous list in the scriptures, a list from Galatians 5:22-23. In Galatians Paul says that if we allow the Spirit of God to dwell in us and lead us and guide us, if we focus on Him and give HIM full reign in our lives, then the Spirit of God will produce these qualities in our lives: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control. When you think about it list matches up almost perfectly with the list of things true love does! So the key to being more loving to your family and friends and neighbors—to being able to show them God’s kind of love—is not to try harder to love them, it is instead to be filled with the Holy Spirit of God—with God’s Spirit of Love! If we seek Him, call on Him, commune with Him in continual prayer and in studying of the scriptures then we will produce the fruit of the Spirit in our lives and we will live as changed people. We will live our daily lives as more loving people. And just as the Spirit of God can never fail, so our love will also never fail.
So this Valentine’s Day, and always, may the Spirit of God guide you into the true love of God for others!
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