Love is at the heart of Christianity. The scriptures teach us that “God is love,” and we are taught throughout the Bible to become like Him and demonstrate that love to those around us. Yet, for many reasons we often fail to do this. We are sinners, of course, and still fail at our calling. But another reason we fail is that our understanding of love is tarnished, the word having been twisted with corrupt connotations by the world. Many have tried to define love, but even the Bible yields no definition but provides some characteristics (1 Corinthians 13:1-8) and many examples of love.
We attempt to provide no definition here, but recently on a television program (Can anything good come out of TV?), I heard something which is helping me better understand what real love is. It was on a “Hallmark” movie (Hmmm?), and a bride was expressing her personal words to her husband to be. She said, “You make me a better person.” And I thought to myself: “That’s exactly what love does.” When we love someone, we want them to be a better person, and we will do things to help them become a better person. So, what would helping someone else become a better person look like? ...
•Praising them for a job well done
•Helping them discover and use their talents
•Comforting them in times of grief
•Praying for them
•Helping them overcome their weaknesses
•Setting an example for them of Christ-like living
•Assisting them to grow in Christ
•Treating them with respect and honor
•Forgiving them and asking them for forgiveness
•Showing them every kindness
•Being patient with them
•Treating them as a person made in the image of God
These are some of my thoughts on this. What do you say?
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