On this particular holiday, many people talk about love, and show others just how much they mean to them by sending flowers, sharing chocolates, and giving cards. It's wonderful to be loved and to give love, but how many people really know how loves is demonstrated by scriptural standards?
Today, I want to share a passage form the famous "love chapter" in the Bible. As I read through it one more time before sharing, I was struck with the enormity of how "real love" is demonstrated. Let me challenge you to read it once again:
"If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.
If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." 1 Corinthians 13:1-6
A tall order for any of us to fill, and we'll only be capable of it if we have a "divine love" working in our hearts and lives. The world needs it, and God has it available to each of us.
