Feast of Heaven

I've been thinking a bit about love lately--mainly because it is so highly demanded of us everywhere in scripture. It is obviously something God expects from His people, something that Jesus displayed in the most inspirational and beautiful way. So how do we do it? Oswald Chambers said that "love is the loftiest preference of one person for another." Preference. Hmm. Do I prefer anyone to myself? Nope, not really. Am I kind to people? Well, yeah. Do I give them stuff, like rides to places or free haircuts or clothing I don't wear anymore, or money for food? Yes, I might do a few of those things from time to time. But is this due to an expression of love in its truest, most genuine form? I'm afraid it might not be. It could be my innate need to make people happy. I want to please them in some way, and insodoing, I can please myself; it feels good to "love." But, what I am finding is that it's easier to love beautiful, fun, entertaining people than it is to love the "unlovable--" those who cannot really love me back. Do I prefer these people in the way that Jesus calls me to? No, most often I find I am more annoyed by people than anything else. Besides, anytime a person is aware that he or she is expressing "love" to someone, you've got to wonder if it's even really love at all.

I have some amazing examples of love in my life-- people who give up their homes and their food and their lives to bless others, to see them healed and grown up in God, warm and well-fed. These people do not refer to the kindness as some sort of ministry-- it is who they are, how they live.

When Jesus forms His character into our lives, shouldn't love become as natural to us as breathing? I am more and more convinced that we are so much more HUMAN than we think sometimes. Perhaps the only way to really change is found as "we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit...."

posted by Jules @ Sunday, October 03, 2004