Enduring Love

In case you haven't noticed, our world is looking for love. However, to quote the singer Johnny Lee, they've been "Looking for love in all the wrong places." Believe it or not, the church has the answer.

I was flipping through the channels and came across the movie "The Notebook". It's become a favorite movie for so many because of it's theme of enduring love. As I thought about this theme, I was reminded of the fact that love, although not always sappy, and not always pretty, is determined.

Just take a read through your Bible. Pay attention to the incredible overtones of love. God's love created man. God's love has endured through every generation. Even when it was ugly. Even when it was difficult. God's love never failed. God's love was ultimately put on display through His Son at the Cross (read Romans 5:8). If you want to read a love story then you must read the world's all time best selling book on the matter.

Psalm 100:5, "For the LORD is good and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations."

1 Corinthians 13:7, "Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."

Somewhere along the way the church has forgotten about God's amazing, unending, unconditional, and enduring love. I'm not sure why this happened. I have my suspicions. But the reality is that what the world needs most, we possess, and we need to share.

I was sharing with a church this weekend about the need for each of us to really know Jesus. My point in sharing is that if we don't know Him then it will be hard for us to share Him. If we don't know Him then we will struggle to know who we are in Him. This is the need for our generation. We need to move out of the mindsets that keep us from believing, accepting, and operating in the unconditional love of God.

1 John 3:16 is an incredible reminder of God's love for us and how it is manifested in our lives:
"This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters." My friends, this is what enduring love looks like. God loved the world so much that He gave. He demonstrated His love through the indescribable gift of His Son. Our response to His love is that we share it, we give it, and if necessary we lay down our lives for it.

What I have discovered in life is that people may argue with your understanding. They may struggle with your theology. However, they cannot argue with unconditional love. Let's just think about it for a minute: WHAT IF...
What if we loved the people in the world regardless of how they lived?
What if we genuinely gave of ourselves without expecting anything in return?
What if we demonstrated love more than we talked about it?
What if we gave the world what God thought we deserved - L-O-V-E?

Let me close with this story:
A few weeks ago we had some friends visiting with us. My son told me on the Monday after their departure that he missed them already. I asked him "Why?". He said that he just likes it when they are around - he likes the way it feels. When I pressed him just a little more he gave me the explanation. He said, "There's just a lot of love in the environment." This love that he describes, that he so passionately want to experience is within each and every one of us. It's the enduring love of God. And when you and I choose to operate in His love, it will make and incredible difference. It will also create an irresistible environment.