November 3, 2004
And above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.”
--1 Peter 4:8
The great preacher Charles Spurgeon grew up with a little brother who had a degenerative bone disease in his ankles. He would fall down all the time causing Spurgeon’s father to become angry. One day he said to the younger brother, “If you keep falling down, I’m going to spank you and discipline you with a rod!”
Several weeks later the father said to Charles, “Well, ever since I threatened your little brother with a spanking, he hasn’t been falling down. I haven’t seen him come in with dirty clothes or torn knees in his britches.”
Charles replied, “Yes, father, he’s been falling down. But every time he falls, I pick him up, clean him off, and change him, so that you won’t see.”
That’s what love does. Love keeps picking people up! In making your life count, love should be first because it is a priority. It is our first responsibility in life as a believer in Jesus Christ.
Why? Because God is love, and if we are children of our heavenly Father, we share His very nature. Christ commanded us to love which is evident in John 13:34-35 where He says, “A new commandment I give to you; that you love one another. By this shall all men know that you’re My disciples, that you have love one for another.”
I’m very disturbed when I hear so many reports of couples breaking up. I hear so often of young couples, in particular, getting married and then just deciding after a few years to throw in the towel. There doesn’t seem to be a real commitment to work at loving someone. Nobody said it would be easy or that there would not be problems.
If one says that the love and Spirit of God is in him or her, then how can you not learn to love? Love works! It is fervent! It doesn’t quit—because that’s the love of God. In this age, it’s easy to become hard-hearted because of all of the hate and violence that is evident in our culture, and it’s simple enough just to throw up our hands and say, “I don’t care.”
There is no real love without the cross. You may be struggling to love someone at your job, in your family, or in your household, but Christ commands that we love him or her regardless. If you love someone, you believe the best about that person, seek the facts, and seek to help them no matter what.
LOVE IS NOT SOME CHEAP, SHALLOW EMOTION.
LOVE ACTS! LOVE MOVES! LOVE DOES!