Love

What is love?  This question has many different answers, for there are many different kinds of love.  Love is one of those things that is exceptionally powerful, and yet very dangerous.  Used correctly, love can change lives for the better.  It can bring people closer and make people stronger.  Used incorrectly, however, it can bring pain.  Here is a look at different kinds of love.  This is not meant to be technical and comprehensive, but practical and applicable.

The greatest form of love is the one that can only come from one source: God.  The love that God has for us is beyond our own comprehension.  It is greater than any love we could give out ourselves.  The unconditional love of God is the reason us Christ followers live how we live and do what we do.  We have based our life on this love, following it with all our heart, despite the fact that we do not fully understand it.

The greatest love we ourselves can give out should, in fact, not be for each other, but for God.  Everything we do should be in devotion to Him, not to each other.  God is our creator, our Father, and our savior, and what He has done for us far outweighs anything that another human could ever do for us.  There should be no question as to who is atop our love list.

There is no question that the human in this world that I love the most is my wife.  When we make the marriage commitment, we are devoting ourselves to our spouse.  Good marriages are built upon many things, including love.  Such love does many things.  It makes me place more importance on my wife and her happiness than I do on myself and my own happiness.  It creates an environment of unity and absolute trust.  In our marriage, there is an absolute trust in each other.  We know that neither of us will be unfaithful, and neither of us wants to be, or would ever consider being, unfaithful.  Such love means that we work out our differences in a respectful way.  It means we tolerate each other's faults and shortcomings.  The best marriages are not simply a legal union, but they are sacred institutions, blessed and made holy by God.

While I have not experienced this in my life, the love one has for their children is a very sacrificial love.  Parents work hard in their occupation and at home to provide for their children.  Having a child changes everything that happens in the home, and the best of parents do not see such changes as a burden.  They see such changes as what needs to happen to give the child everything they need.  They do what they must because they love their children, and they would do anything in the world for them.  This love compels parents to give their children all the opportunities they could hope for in their life.

There are, of course, many other groups of people we have love for.  This includes our parents and family, and close friends.  These people are an essential part of our lives, and we have great love for them.  However, God does not say to simply love those people close to you, but to love your neighbors.  And your enemies.  So this is something I try to do: love everyone, even people I've never met before.  Everyone else is in the same predicament I am: they are sinners, separated from God.  The same salvation, the same love, that is available to me, is available to them.  The same God made them, and the same God sent Jesus to die for them.  They are no better or worse than I am, for we are all broken.  So why would I withhold love from any of them?  Do I believe them unworthy?  If they are unworthy of love from me, then I am ever more so unworthy of the love of God.

The last form of love I'm going to discuss here is car love.  That's right, car love.  This concept covers not just cars, but anything made in and limited to this physical world.  The truth is this: I love my car.  It's my favorite possession.  It's great fun to drive, and even though I've owned it for nearly four years, I still get excited by the fact that I get to own such a vehicle.  I love my car very much.  That being said, it's car love.  Car love is having very positive feelings toward something of this world, yet placing the proper weight on it.  I love my car, yet would I put more value on my car than I would another person?  Would I die for my car?  Would I become depressed and think my life was over if my car burst into flames?  Of course not.  People who live in such ways do not have car love, they have an obsession, an idol in their life.  A car is just a car, and while I have great car love for my car, car love is weak and meaningless compared to any of the other loves discussed here.  A car can be replaced, as can a house, or a boat, or anything else made by the hands of humans.

Love is a very powerful thing, but when used incorrectly, it can bring pain to our lives.  Taking the love meant for marriage and applying it elsewhere leads to adultery, cohabitation, and divorce.  Loving any human more than you love God puts that person on a pedastal, at a high place where only God should be; it is a form of idolatry.

In closing, whoever you are, I love you.  I really do, and, more importantly, God loves you too.

Positivity, Trust, and Perspective

[ This is somewhat of a sequel to the previous post named Contentment. Similiar, with a slgihtly different view. ]

I'm an optimist.  Some people would say that I'm overly or blindly optimistic, and too trusting of people and situations.  They would say that I ignore reality in order to feel good about something.  This, however, is simply not true.

I believe that positivity, like contentment, is a choice.  It is my choice to see the glass half full and not half empty.  It is my choice to see the good side of situations and people.  For me, something that lives very close to optimism is trust.  Trust that God won't lead me down any path where there is no hope.  Trust that there is no situation that can arise in my life that will produce only negative results.  I have absolute and unquestionable trust in the Lord my God that everything I encounter is for His will and His purpose, and such purposes are greater and more amazing than anything I could possibly dream up myself.  I know God is working in me and in my life, through situations we see as good and bad.  Even when my human brain sees the negative parts of something, I choose to focus on the good.  I choose to keep trusting that things will work out.  If I were to instead become pessimistic about all such things, I may miss the silver linings that God has placed in my life, as I would be too busy focusing on the darkness of the storm.  Pessimism is often the off-switch to God's work in our lives.  God will work through our hope and faith in things we cannot see.

Another part of positivity is perspective.  For some people, their positivity is like a thermometer that is affected by every small thing that happens in their life.  Every time something small and imperfect happens, they overreact angrily, turning a small thing into something much larger.  Life is certainly full of negatives and imperfections, many of which must be dealt with or fixed in some way.  However, how we react to such things is vital to our positivity, and to our contentment.  If we blow up with anger every time something happens, there is no doubt as to why we're unhappy.  However, if we choose not to overreact to bad situations, instead calmly doing what must be done to rectify it, we keep our positivity intact.  Practicing such things will then allow us to better handle when bigger things happen.  Keep a healthy perspective on the ups and downs of life, and don't blow small things out of proportion.

When facing an unknown circumstance in life, it is our choice whether to look at it positively or negatively.  It is our choice to hope for good results or believe in impending bad results.  I am an optimist, but more specifically, I try to be a realistic optimist.  I try to look at situations realistically (not blindly) and logically, but also positively.  Maybe things won't turn out so bad.  Maybe things will work out.  And, if things don't work out, I try to look for the good in the bad, for there usually are positive effects of negative situations.  For example - in April, I was laid off from my job.  This is, obviously, a negative for our finances, but throughout this time, I have not gotten down on it or discouraged.  As I continue to interview for new jobs, I know that God has a plan for me, and that this will all work out for His glory and His will.  Also, not having a job has granted me time to do a lot of work around the house (which we bought at the end of last year).  I did a closet remodeling project, and have been doing a lot of work on the back yard - things that would have taken a lot longer, if I had had a full time job the whole time.  As for our finances, while this puts a small kink in our plans when it comes to putting money in savings and paying down the house, I can be thankful that we are financially situated enough where we're not struggling.  My wife still has her job, and we have no issues affording what we must afford.  We have been greatly blessed in that regard, and thus the job loss is merely an inconvenience, instead of a major difficulty.

Contentment

Life can be hard.  We all have challenges and stresses.  We've all had bad things happen to us.  We've all been hurt by someone else, and we've all been the one to hurt someone else.  We all regret things we've done, and regret things we haven't done.  Such things are simply truths of human existence.  To say that life is always easy is foolish, yet we cannot allow ourselves to be crushed by the hard times.  Most people, it seems, allow their circumstances to define their level of contentment.  They're only happy when things are going well with their job, or their finances, or their relationships, or whatever it may be.  Following such thinking may be the way of the world, but it is not a path that will ever lead to true happiness.

I am not perfect, and I have no dilusions that I live my life in a flawless manner.  Nor do I have the answer to every question.  However, I am quite a happy person, and this is why: I do not base my happiness on my current circumstances.  I believe very strongly that contentment is a choice, and the biggest part of that choice is this: what is the source of my contentment?  Is it my job, my marriage, my money, my car, my house?  If one of those things has difficulties, or completely breaks down, does my contentment go with it?  My contentment does not rest with such things, but instead with something deeper, something greater.

God is the source and the foundation of my contentment.  That may seem crazy to some, but it is the truth.  These are things I know about God, and they are the reasons I cling to him: God is eternal, all powerful, all knowing, and loves me with a strength and fervor that I can't even grasp.  He holds me and my life in his hands - the same hands that were pierced for me on Calvary, spilling the blood that set me free from my own condemning sin.  These truths make anything bad that can happen in this life seem so insignificant.  There is nothing that can come my way in this life that can take away my contentment, because the source of that contentment is not of this world.  Even if you took away everything I have in this life - my marriage, my house, my car, my friends, all my possessions, one thing would remain: the love of my God, and that love is strong enough to hold me, and that is all I need to be truly content.

Legacies

We often hear questions like these: "What do you want to be remembered for?  What is your legacy?"  When we read the news, we hear about people who have passed away, leaving their marks on their occupations or industries.  Perhaps they will never be forgotten by the world of film, or literature, or athletics, but here is the question: what does it matter?  For sports, players aspire to part of their sport's histories, by winning championships and, ultimately, becoming a member of the Hall of Fame, where they can be enshrined with the other legends of their game.  Film and literature, and all other such things, have their legends as well.  With all they've done, and the great effects they've had on their industries, have they really done anything important?  How truly valuable were the impacts we remember them for?

Humans often live for their legacy.  They live to create the life that history will remember.  Yet, I do not believe this to be our purpose.  I've often had this thought: I don't need or want a legacy.  I don't need to be remembered when I'm gone.  I'm not living today for someone else's memories.  Here's what I do want: to live my life for the glory of God, for the good of His kingdom.  It doesn't matter if I'm remembered; all that matters is what I do today, and the difference it makes in the lives (and eternities) of others.  I'm fine with being forgotten tomorrow, as long as I make a difference today.

Of course, there are people in the history of our faith that we remember, as we should.  We read about men and women in the Bible - Abraham, David, Ruth, and Paul, and so on, and we should look to their stories for instruction, learning both from their successes and their failures.  There are other people we should not easily forget, such as Billy Graham.  I'm certainly not saying to forget those people who have left their mark on the world and on our faith.  What I'm saying is this: don't worry about how you'll be remembered.  Let tomorrow's histories worry about that.  We need only think on the life that God has given us, for His will is what we ought to be following.  A great reputation is worth nothing if the man behind it has done nothing.  Jesus Christ is in Heaven, waiting for the day of His return, and the time we have left must be spent furthering his kingdom, not furthering our own legacies.

The Lost

I've been feeling something coming up from the depths of my soul.  It's a passion that longs to be put into action, though I don't yet know how.  I've been praying that God will lead me in the right direction.

The world is a mess.  I look out and see turmoil, and sin, and pain, and suffering.  Everywhere we go, there are people who need a savior.  I see people who long for love and purpose, yet there is no shoulder to cry on, no one to bring them comfort.  Perhaps they are now clinging to something they think will bring them salvation.  They all have great holes in their lives, and there is only one thing that will fix what is broken.  Nothing in this world will satisfy all their needs.  There is only one power that will heal them and bring them life, and he is not of this world, nor is he limited by what this world has to offer.  His name is Jesus.  The only remedy in this broken world comes from the one who made us, the one who breathed life into us, and the one who died on a cross for us.  All else will crack and break, and leave them lost.

Each of us was born into the same world, and sin afflicts us all, holding each of us back from what we should have been.  Instead of oneness with God, we have disharmony.  Instead of eternal joy, we have all been sentenced to eternal death and everlasting separation from our creator.  We are each responsible for our own damnation, for it was our sin that tore us from Heaven's grasp.

Yet, not all is lost.  Though our sin puts us into a great debt, one we could never pay, we find ourselves no longer hopeless, no longer condemned.  For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  There is no great task or challenge to complete for one to be saved from an eternity of death.  All we must do is accept who we are and what we have done: we are sinners, and we have separated ourselves from our loving creator.  He knows it, and we know it.  We must simply acknowledge it, believing in our heart that the blood of Jesus was spilled for us.

The good news of Christ Jesus is simple, and yet there are innumerable souls in the world in danger of ending their lives without it.  What else could possibly matter in such a life?  Those who leave this world without knowing Jesus will never see light again, thus making their Earthly lives a failure, both on their part, and on the part of those of us who failed to reach them.

I feel as though my life has a purpose in reaching the lost.  Several years ago, I was stopped by a man at a local county fair who had noticed the t-shirt I was wearing, which had a cross on it.  He said I had the gift of evangelism.  I've often wondered if that was a message from God, and if it was, what exactly it meant for my life.  I'm still not sure.  I pray that God will use me for His kingdom.

I am your tool, Father; strengthen me and make me anew, and use me according to your will.  The mind of God is great, while the mind of man is weak, and your plans, oh God, are above anything that I can even imagine.

This Will Change Your Life

Are you bald?  Then try our hair restoration product and change your life!  Perhaps your issue is grey hair, or a big belly, or marks or scars on your skin.  Or perhaps you no longer like your wardrobe, or your shoes, or your car, or your house, or your spouse.  Why keep things as they are, when changing even one small thing can change your life?  You'll feel infinitely better and your life will never be the same!

Except that nothing will really change.

Today's society is seeking change, for everyone has a gaping hole in their life, one they know needs to be filled with something.  Businesses know this need, and they look to profit from our own inadequacies by selling us something we think will change our lives.  They make us feel bad and shameful for what they call physical and lifestyle imperfections, willingly exploiting our insecurities.

We look to add true meaning to our lives, as we should, and yet we look in the wrong places.  If you're lacking hair on the top of your head, there's certainly nothing wrong with doing things to add or regrow hair, but does that really change your life?  Does changing any of the things mentioned in the first paragraph really make any meaningful difference?  Or are we simply making ourselves feel better, pretending to add great value to things whose value is minimal?  Is the difference real, or artificial?

The truth is, that while none of these things (or other such things) are bad in and of themselves, they should not be looked at as the gateway to a better life.  We should not attempt to find fulfillment or happiness in such things, for ultimately, they are temporary and superfluous.  Our happiness and confidence should not come from how we look, for merely physical attributes should not be the driving force behind our contentment in life.  Relying upon our physical bodies will ultimately lead to disappointment, for these bodies are not meant for long term dependability.  They will all fail one day, and then it depends on our heart and mind to determine our happiness.  For only a mind that has placed its reliance on God will be truly content.

So, do not conform to the ways of the world, for it will keep you wanting more, and yet will never fulfill those promises.  Only God will not let you down, and only God will bring you happiness in this life, and the life to come.  True contentment is nothing something that can be acquired through this world, but only through the man that came from Heaven to die for our sins. 

That gaping hole inside each of us can only be filled by one thing, and He's not sold in stores.

The Most Wonderful of the Terrible Days

There was once a time when there was no blemish upon the hearts of men, not even a hint of shame or weakness. Humans lived in perfection, not straying from the God that had created them, not seeking the ways of darkness. Yet then came a day, a day when a temptation arose before them, and in a moment of foolishness, they gave in. They lost their innocence, their perfection, and instead gained a lifetime of toiling against the world and its evil ways. They turned their back on God, choosing their own wisdom instead of His, and from that day forward, the race of men has fought against their own weaknesses. Days come and go, and the battle rages on, and each day, the humans fall, unable to stand. It is their weakness, their foolishness, their distrust in everything but themselves. It is their lust for the pleasures of today, and their apathy and ignorance concerning the truths of tomorrow. They run from true and perfect love, instead taking shelter in the arms of the world, the very arms that will crush and suffocate them, not letting them go.

For thousands of years, this battle has raged. There is not a man alive today that can boast of righteousness, for even the purest of human hearts cannot completely resist the allure of the shadows. God stands upon the edge of Heaven and peers down upon his creations, seeking those to welcome into His home, His kingdom, allowing them to live among Him for the endless ages to come. Yet His search has found no results, for there is no man worthy of it. The hearts of men have been filled with evil, and such an evil will never enter the kingdom of Heaven, for it is a place of wonder, undisturbed by the world and its ways.

Yet should all of humanity be separated from God? Should they all perish for what they have done? God knew the truth, that each of them deserved death, and judgment, and to be separated from Him. It was what they had deserved; it was what they had earned. They each owed a debt too great to pay; only an eternity away from Him and His kingdom would suffice as payment. It was the fate each man deserved.

Yet then there came something that could not be believed, for God sent a part of his own being down to the Earth, and God Himself walked among the men and talked with them, teaching and preaching and healing. He lived as a man, yet did not give in to the weaknesses of the flesh, instead living perfectly and flawlessly, without even a single defect. No other man had ever walked upon the Earth in such a way, unswayed by the darkness of the world. He did not come simply to live, for God had a greater and grander plan, for there came a day when this man, God Himself, was captured by men, beaten, bloodied, and humiliated, and finally, hung from a cross for all to see. There his death was witness by the very people He came to love, and yet by His death, by the shedding of His blood, the ultimate price was paid for those who believed. For God held such a true and deep and perfect love for His world, that He came down from Heaven and walked among us, for He did not desire for us to perish. He offered himself as a sacrifice, completely and ultimately paying all debts, and all we must do is choose to accept it. The gift is given freely to those who believe, those who allow God to forgive the things they themselves could never erase. It is love that brought God to make this sacrifice, and it is love that brings us to choose to accept that sacrifice.

Thank you, God. I cannot repay what I have received, and I know I am utterly and unquestionably unworthy. Yet I run to you, burying myself in your love, and there I will remain, eternally yours.