What will you do for love? Will you allow yourself to be inconvenienced? Will you put your needs and desires on the back burner for the one you love? Will you love only in word or do will you demonstrate that love? Will you put the one you love first?
Today is Valentine’s Day. I woke my children up with hugs and kisses and Valentine’s wishes and then left them a box of chocolate on their beds as I came downstairs to prepare them a special breakfast. I made heart shaped pancakes for everyone. They each got a plate filled with their favorite kind of heart shaped pancakes. Not bad for Valentine’s Day. Then I sent them off to school with more hugs and kisses and sat down to write my blog post for the day. I had just gotten started when the phone rang. “Mom, I forgot my lacrosse stick and I need it for this morning’s practice. Can you bring it, please? I need it now.” Did I mention I was still in my bathrobe and hadn’t taken a shower yet? Of course, he needs his lacrosse stick now, so I do what any self respecting mother would do. I throw on some workout clothes hoping anyone who sees me will think I’m just returning from a vigorous workout at the gym and drive to the school to deliver a lacrosse stick. Why? Because love isn’t always convenient, but love put others’ needs first. Real love is demonstrated on a daily basis, not just for a few hours or a few minutes, but always.
Do we really love God? We sing songs declaring Him enough or our all in all, but do we demonstrate it with the way we live? It is easy to love God when everything is clicking along like we like, but what about when it gets hard? What about when He calls us to stop and invest in another when it isn’t convenient? What if He calls us to sacrifice our resources so we can send funds to support a missionary or bless a family struggling to make ends meet?
1 Corinthians 13:1-13 is read at many weddings. In it, agape love is defined. Wikipedia defines agape love as “unconditional, self-sacrificing, active, volitional, and thoughtful.” This is the kind of love we cannot muster up on our own. To demonstrate this type of love, we must surrender to the Lord completely and allow Him to love through us.
Jesus demonstrated His love for us by pulling back the curtain of heaven and coming down in bodily form. He was subjected to all of the constraints of humanity and died a brutal death…all because He loved us. Now that’s a demonstration of agape love. How will we choose to demonstrate our love for Him today?