Love Is

A word that has many meanings, depending on the context in which it is used. One could say that they love their car, or you could say that you love the way a certain flower looks; or even one can state their love for their child. Love. A word that can inspire people to do great and marvelous works. It is also a word that can create wars, death and destruction.

So when we evoke the word love, do we really understand the power of this word? Love is an action word that implies that an individual must be ready to accept the heavy responsibilities that goes along with the word love. Three, but not all, of these responsibilities are: commitment, sacrifice, and loyalty

When you love someone, you are committed to developing to the fullest the God-person within that individual. You must understand that love comes from God, and in understanding that very important reality, love is something that must be taken very seriously. You cannot state to someone that you love them, without first having the right love relationship with the Creator or your attempts to truly provide the love to them that is needed will fall short.

Because beloved, the Love of God requires that you sacrifice whatever you must to ensure that the one you love is paramount to your being. When a parent works two shifts in order to save enough money for their child to attend the best schools so their child can have the best education, they do so because that parent knows that education is the key to success in our society. The son who donates their kidney to their father whose kidney is failing does so knowing that the life of their father outweighs any discomfort they will have to endure by only having one kidney. The wife who gets up a little early each day to pray with her husband before he goes to work is making sure that their marriage is covered by the God of the Universe. And the soldier, who throws himself upon a grenade, knowing he will surely die, does so in order to save the lives of his comrades.

Love is not a surface emotion or feeling. It cannot be encapsulated in a song, a ring or the gift of flowers. Now those expressions of love are fine in the proper context, but those events in and of themselves do not truly define the meaning of love. Love is the deep spiritual manifestation of the love of God within us. You cannot truly love a person without becoming spiritually attached to that individual; otherwise you are sorely missing the mark. Because when you truly love someone your spirits are connected in such a way that whenever you are apart it feels as if you are missing a piece of yourself. That is why couples who have been together for a long time can finish the others sentence; their spirits are speaking to each other. It is why a mother who lives in New York can know when her child is in trouble in California, because their spirits are connected.

Loving someone for material possessions, or their social standing, or even because of some sexual attraction is a selfish, vain shallow physical emotion that is not really love at all. That is what the Bible calls lust. That is the love of eye, not the love of the spirit, which God hates. When you love, truly love someone; you love them with all your being. You love them with or without a job. You love them when the doctor gives them a bad report. As Bishop T.D. Jakes says, “I want someone to love me even when I am standing in the unemployment line.” That is what is defined as loyalty.

The test of true love is not when all is going well, the true test of love is when the electricity is cut off, the car is repossessed and the house is in foreclosure. Will you stay with your mate, friend, or the person you have been dating for a year or more or will you abandon them to find, what you may think is a better financial situation? Or will you stay together and fight through the hard times, believing in the marriage vows (covenant oath), friendship covenant or relationship covenant? It is easier to run away, thinking that the grass is greener in the other yard. But did you stop to think that if that grass was Astro-turf? Or what would be your reaction if the person you thought loved you, abandoned you if the situation was reversed?

The love for your spouse, family member and friends will be tested as steel is tested in the fire by the everyday living of life. Will you allow God to strengthen your spirit in order for your love to be as strong as the steel of the two-edged sword, or will you allow the enemy to make your love as brittle as a toothpick?