WHAT IS LOVE

Such a fun 90's song to sing. Now I've dated myself. That's ok. With age comes wisdom, right? Only if we pursue it. The good Lord continues to remind me of this. Ask & it shall be given to you, seek and you will find...Matthew 7:7. Since this is valentine week I thought, "O no! Am I to write about love again? Haven't I already written about this topic too much?"  Then I pray and Luke 10:26 comes to mind, where a lawyer asks Jesus. "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus asks him, "What is written in the law?" The lawyer quotes Deuteronomy 6:5. "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, & with all your strength, with all you mind & your neighbor as yourself." Jesus said, "You have answered rightly, do this & you will live." But the lawyer has another question. "And who is my neighbor?" Jesus then describes a man on a journey who runs into thieves who beat him & steal from him leaving him half dead. Two more men end up passing by, see him & do nothing. But then a Samaritan sees him & has compassion for him. He bandages him up & brings him to an Inn and pays for his stay there. "Which of these three do you think was neighbor to him?" Asks Jesus. "He who showed mercy." Answers the lawyer. "Go and do likewise." Said Jesus.

Cleary our neighbor is anyone we come across in our daily lives who need help. Isn't that all of us? We all need help from time to time. The Samaritan didn't overthink it and ask himself, "What has this man done for me?" I'm thinking if he did he probably wouldn't have helped. Instead He saw a need & met it. The only person of the 3 that saw him lying there who had concern and then did something about it. No questions asked. This is love in action. Not just knowing the answer as the lawyer did but taking the step of faith needed to walk it out.

What a beautiful picture of the Lord's love for us. But God shows his love for us, because while we were still sinners Christ died for us. Romans 5:8 What have any of us done to deserve His compassion & mercy? Yet He gives it. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.1John 4:16 The teaching of love is written in the letter, in the 10 commandments and through the life, words, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The first 4 commands focus on putting God first, the last 6 instruct us how to treat each other. It is the answer to inheriting eternal life.

Laura Lawrence
Discovery Time Director