LOVE

Before I start this weeks blog I pray that you and your family are well in every aspect of the word. I know that the world is looking bleak these days and we seem to be hearing bad news at every turn. Just know that no matter how dark the world is there is always a light that will forever shine and that is the light of Christ. You may be going through a rough period at the moment with everything that's going on but I encourage you to call out to the Lord because He is faithful to answer prayers and give hope in times of hopelessness.

Love is a multifaceted word. I explored this on a previous blog but it's been a couple of years since then and there's still much that needs to be said. People use love to express their feelings for anything under the sun these days. "I love chocolate" or "I love the weather today"or "I really love going on holidays" and so on and so forth. Love is a word that has very strong connotations but is used quite flippantly. From these examples you can see people use the word for anything and everything. Would one really say that the 'love' they have for going on holidays is the same as the 'love' they have for chocolate? They are two completely different things that differ in use and value yet people use the same term to express their feelings towards them. I think as a society we either don't have a good command of the English language or we've brought down the meaning of love. It's more likely the latter to be honest.

In the media love is always portrayed as a flippant thing that one can have for someone one day and then be completely gone the next. This love never seems to last, a couple will be professing their love to each other one scene then be cheating on each other the next. Is that love? If so then no one should be partaking in any kind of loving relationship. The world portrays love as a switch that you can turn on when it's convenient then turn off when it's not. Love serves you, suits you, is for you and can be disposed of when it's no longer convenient. This my friends is not love, I'm not even sure what that is other than selfishness wrapped up in feelings. Love withstands trials, pain and time. The word of God tells us that love is not self-seeking, not selfish and does not seek it's own way. If love means being comfortable and putting in no work that is not love. If love means always getting and never giving that is not love. If love is disposable that is not love. I find it sad today that so many people will get into relationships and declare their love publicly on social media and to friends and family then break up. That is not love,  why do you ask? Because love means commitment and love never fails! If you are unsure of a relationship you should not be telling that person you love them because love is not uncertain. The Bible says that love always trusts and always hopes so if you see no hope for a future with someone do not tell them you love them.

Society today doesn't know what love is because they don't know who God is. The reality of it is that God is love, He is the very essence of the word and the creator of it. If we don't know who He is we just can't fathom what love is. The word of God says that he who does not know God does not know love and that is truer than true. Just look at the world today. Take a moment and think of all the things that have happened this year and in the years before. From violence to poverty to sexual assault to murder to kidnappings to war and the list goes on and on. It doesn't take a scientist to tell you this world is lacking in love for each other and more importantly for God. People do terrible atrocities to one another not because they have to or were brought up that way but because they do not love each other! If you love someone would you kill them? Would you rape someone you love? Would you steal from people that you love? These are all things people do out of a lack of love for their fellow human beings. The two greatest commandments are to love the Lord your God with all your soul, all your strength, all your heart and all your might then to love your neighbour as yourself. The world as we know it would be a Utopia practically if everyone abided by these commandments of God but unfortunately we live in a lawless world where people have redefined love. Love today is whatever people want it to be. If someone wants to have an affair that's love, if someone wants to abuse their partner that's love, if someone wants to be in a same sex relationship that's love. We've taken what God says is love and made it reprobate. 

When I was younger I didn't know what love was at all, I really thought I did though. Back then I used to be infatuated, borderline obsessed with anything to do with romance. I would watch loads of romcoms and read endless novels about love thinking I knew everything I needed to know. The reality of it looking back now is that I had no idea what love was and I knew nothing about loving anybody. Looking back at with spiritual eyes and a heart for the Lord I realise that I didn't even love anybody. It's a sad conclusion to come to but it's the truth I really didn't. I was selfish, rude and self absorbed; only wanting people around me for what they could give me and never just wanting them. I did not fit any of the standards to what God says love is, I didn't even know God. Although,in those times of darkness and following the ways of this world the Lord still loved me and had his hand upon me. The days when I went my own way and lived in rebellion to a holy God He was still there to protect and provide for me. There is no truer definition of the word love than Jesus Christ who so loved the world that he gave his life on the cross for our sins. Now that I know this kind of love my eyes have been opened and there's no going back to the worlds counterfeit.

The world doesn't love because they do not know God. Some people claim to know who he is but do they really? To love God is to obey his commandments, the word of God says if any man claim that they love God but do not keep his commandments he is a liar and the truth is not in him. The same way people claim to love their partner then break up with them is the same way people claim to love God and don't do what he says.  This is a harsh reality I know but it is the truth and it's why the world is so messed up today. A lot of people claim to love the Lord but do nothing he tells them to do and everything he tells them not to do. How is that love?! How can so many people claim to know God and not live according to his law? I understand that so many people have been deceived by the media and progressive Christianity but there comes a time where one has to search the scriptures for them self. Stop letting the world, your friends, your partner and even your pastor tell you what love is and search the scriptures for yourself! Love is not what you think it is trust me it took me seventeen years to encounter it and I've never been the same. The love that the Bible refers to is true regardless of what the media and the world might say. Love that does not endure, persevere and last a lifetime is not love. Love for God that allows you to live an ungodly life is not love. At the end of the day what God says is love is true even though the whole world may say it's false.

I hope you were all blessed by reading this weeks blog and learned something new. As always I will leave you with scripture below about the topic of Love.

John 14:15                                                                                                                               If ye love me, keep my commandments.

1 John 4:8                                                                                                                                 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.

John 13:34-35                                                                                                                        A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.                                                                                                        By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

John 15:13                                                                                                                              Greater love hath no man than this, than a man lay down his life for his friends.

1 John 4:19                                                                                                                              We love him, because he first loved us.

1 John 4:7                                                                                                                               Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and everyone that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8                                                                                                              Charity suffereth long and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up                                                                                                                               Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;                                                                                                                                   Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;                                                              Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.                      Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.

I pray that you all know the love of Christ for yourselves and experience it through a relationship with him. There is no other love on this Earth that can satisfy because only God in Heaven provides the real thing. (The last verses in 1 Corinthians is referring to love when it says charity, charity is love in old English). For all those who already know Christ as their personal Lord and Saviour please stay on the narrow path looking forward to the day of your Salvation. For those reading this that don't know God I pray you seek him today while there is yet still time, tomorrow is promised to nobody. Today is the day of Salvation! Do not wait until you die to see where you will spend eternity all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. We all need Jesus He is the only way, the only truth and the only life. I implore you to repent and believe the Gospel today, there is hope for you no matter how far you've gone. I love you all so much and Jesus loves you infinitely more. Stay blessed.