What does love mean to you?  Love is…[fill in the blank].  I am sure it means something different to each of us, yet at the core love is simply love. Volumes could be and have been written about love so what I will share is just a snapshot.

   In looking up definitions of love I found almost a total inclusion of sexual attraction.  So you could deduce that in the world love is often confused with lust.  Of course in a committed marital relationship sex is a component but it surely is not the total take.  Loving someone in a healthy way is so much broader and deeper than just what is available on the surface.  To only look at the physical is indicative of shallow immaturity.  Not saying that physical attraction is not important because it surely is, however, to only look at that is to miss the totality of what another brings to a relationship.

Over the past several weeks I have spoken with both men and women who are ‘looking for love.’  Across the board they are each looking for a spouse who will fulfill all their dreams and visions of what constitutes near perfection in each case.  Looking for your ‘better half’ implies that you are at best only a half yourself.  A friend many decades ago told me to become whole and look for another whole person.

Now, realistically, I do not believe any of us are ‘whole’ in the natural but we can surely strive to be whole in Christ.  If you know who you are in Him and follow His commandments you are on the road to walking whole.  You will live in a peace that surpasses all understanding despite what is going on around you.  You will never be forsaken.   You will be blessed in your coming in and in your going out.  You will walk in the fruit of the Spirit which includes love.

The fruit of the Spirit is talked about much in Christian circles yet few walk that way.  We have allowed the world to permeate every open door in our churches and in our hearts (for it is always a heart issue).  There is also much conversation about the Christian ‘love walk.’  Look around.  Do you see that ‘love walk’ taking place much today?

Know this:  you are not here by accident.  It matters not what has gone before in your life.  You are here ‘for such a time as this!’

Check your own ‘love walk.’ Let the Lord lead you through forgiveness to His peace.   If you are single and seeking a spouse, let the Lord lead you.  If you are married, start today to refresh your marriage.  Hit the refresh button and look at your spouse with new eyes.  Let the Lord lead you toward a compassionate heart.  If you are in an abusive relationship, seek help and let the Lord lead you out to safety.  Abuse is never OK whether it is emotional, physical or spiritual.

 For it is written:

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believe in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

Jesus

John 3:16

“Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up;  does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil;  does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth;  bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”

1 Corinthians 13:4-7

 “So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”

1 Corinthians 13:13

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”

Galatians 5:22-23

“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.”

1 Chronicles 16:34

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Remember, it is always a heart issue!

“Yet who knows whether you have come to the Kingdom for such a time as this?”

Esther 4:14

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