Love: The main thing and the plain thing

"Love is the call.  Love is the transforming power of God... Love is the highest aim, the greatest practice you can cultivate in your soul."
St. John of the Cross, 16th century Spanish Mystic

Jesus was clear.  The Bible is clear.  The Apostle Paul was clear.  The Apostle John is clear. They are united in their clarity regarding the primacy of love.  Jesus would state that the highest priority of life is love (Matthew 22:36-40).  Its not only important, but it is the sign of our authenticity as followers of his (John 13:34-35).  Paul would expand this principle by showing that without love, every other virtue is empty (I Corinthians 13).  Love is not only to be a manifestation of our walk with Jesus, but also our motivation.  John amplifies our understanding of the nature of God by showing us that God is love and that to have fellowship with God, is to have fellowship with love itself (I John 4:8).

Its as if the weight of revelation has been pounding this singular point that life is about experiencing love.  It is not about power, although love is powerful.  Its not about possessions, although love is the greatest thing we can have.  Its not even about yourself, although the love of God demonstrates your incredible value.  No, its all about love and it always has been.

Somewhere and somehow, in our busy lives we lose the forrest through the trees.  We focus on those things are are to be the manifestations of living lovingly, without actually experiencing love.  Jesus said that apart from him, we can do nothing (John 15:5).  We tend to think of this statement in a power dynamic, in that we feel like we need to be connected to Jesus in order to get things accomplished.  However, we need to be connected to Jesus in order to experience love, and that love causes authentic fruitfulness.

The greatest purpose of living is to experience and share love.  To be a part of God's love ethic to a hurting and broken world, is the privilege of living. 

How important is love for you today?  Have you genuinely experienced the love of God in a tangible way?  Are you comfortable assessing your actions, not in the dynamic of right or wrong, effective or ineffective, moral or immoral, but whether it is loving or unloving?

Its all about love, always was, and always will be.

Be blessed today,

Pastor M Traylor

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Beneath the anger

Image
  Israel served the LORD all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua. They had known every act the LORD had done for Israel . (Jos 24:31 CEB) "Mediating narratives of supremacy that originate in diseased theological and social imagination--and ultimately unresolved trauma--must be replaced by alternative, healthy theological imagination that contributes to human flourishing." -- Charles Kiser and Elaine Health in Trauma-informed Evangelism This past week, I have enjoyed watching the Olympic games in Paris.  There is something about competition, involving the world's best athletes that is awe inspiriting.  What I have been fascinated by is the massive social media reactions of self-professed Christians to an opening ceremony float, and an Algerian female boxer.  Both situations are very small portions of the Olympic games, but the attention to each situation, and the intensity of emotions behind posts and my favorite, social media argumen...
Read more

Misplaced Hope

Image
I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit. (Rom 15:13 NLT) "In our questions about politics and the gospel, we must be willing to ask how evangelical politics might change if we replace fear with hope, the pursuit of power with the cultivation of humility, and nostalgia with history."--Mae Elise Canon in Beyond Hashtag Activism I am writing this on November 6th, the day after election day in 2024.  I have been preparing for this day by spending more time in prayer and meditation, anticipating that regardless of the winner of the presidential election, that many leaders and members of the churches that I have the privilege of serving, will experience significant discouragement, disappointment, and disillusionment.  A number of friends have contacted me, checking in and sharing concerns about my welfare and the welfare of many of my fr...
Read more

When "Agree to disagree" is Dangerous

Image
  And he will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.’ “And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life. ”  Mt 25:45–46 NLT In controversial topics, we are taught that in order to be civil in the communities in which we participate, that it is polite and respectful to "agree to disagree".  This is often used to de-escalate a disagreement that has emotion attached.  Devoted Coca-Cola drinkers will rarely agree that Pepsi products have more flavor, and so thanksgiving gatherings will often agree to disagree when a guest breaches generations of etiquette by bringing a two-liter bottle of Pepsi to a Coke family gathering. The point is that when the topic is trivial and no one has the potential of being harmed, it is appropriate to go the "lets agree to disagree" route. However, what if someone at the same thanksgiving meal made a statement...
Read more