Love is something that is constantly taken for granted. We use the word so loosely that it has lost a lot of its true meaning. We only want to love certain areas of life, or certain things about people, or certain places we are. Why are we selective lovers? Why do we only accept certain kinds of people? Why do we only love the things that benefit us? That is not what we are called to do. We are not called to be selective lovers.
God only asks us to love the way He loved. He loved us first, so why can we not show our love back? Why is it so hard to show His love throughout every part of our lives?
When you truly love something, you will give up anything for that one thing or that one person. God asks us to love Him and to give up everything to do His works. It seems like a lot, but it is not as much as we think, it’s not as hard as it seems. The other day I listened to a man speak about how many other things we give our lives to. He spoke about how we find it offensive that God would ask us to give up everything for Him, but we freely do it for other areas of our lives.
A few examples he used:
1. A business man who works everyday of his life, gives everything to his job, but neglects his family, his personal walk with God, his personal time, all for a job
2. A teenage girl who gives up her reputation, her purity, her faith, to have sex with a boy who does not truly love her.
These are just two examples of a much bigger issue. We love the things of this world more than we love the God who created it. I hope you heard that. We love the things of this world more than we love the God who created it.
“Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them”- 1 John 2:15
One of the biggest commonalities between everything in the world is that they have no long term return. We love things that will never love us back. We invest everything we have into something that will not benefit us the way God will. We put our efforts into things that will not be around for all of eternity the way God will.
People will take the time to read books and stories that will not better their everyday lives, people will watch things on the internet that will make them feel better for a minute, people will try and drink away and forget their problems. People will do all these things that give back very little to them, if any, instead of turning to a God that will give back for eternity, because of the love He has for us.
God has not called us to be selective lovers, but true lovers of Him. Loving Him means loving each other the way He first loved us. Instead of investing everything we have into this dying world, invest in each other, in people, because people will last forever. Love people the way God loves. Love God the way God loved you. Jesus gave up everything for us to get closer to God, so shouldn’t we be willing to do the same?
The Beginning of Wisdom 