Love is…

This Thursday we are all going to be inundated with red roses, chocolate hearts and romantic cards. Yes it’s valentine’s day.

You might be fed up with this annual celebration of romantic love and see it as simply a commercial endeavour set to line the pockets of businesses. However, as it does focus on the most impart thing in life, ‘love’, it shouldn’t be so quickly dismissed.

Interestingly enough, this last Sunday at ‘Redefine’ we were studying chapter 12 of the gospel of Mark; verses 28 to 34 to be precise. In this passage a religious scholar asks Jesus what the most important commandment is. Jesus’ reply is this “The most important of all the commandments is this: ‘The Lord Yahweh, our God, is one!’ You are to love the Lord Yahweh, your God, with every passion of your heart, with all the energy of your being, with every thought that is within you, and with all your strength. This is the great and supreme commandment. And the second is this: ‘You must love your neighbour in the same way you love yourself.’ You will never find a greater commandment than these.” – Mark 12:29-31

Jesus is saying that loving God and loving those around us are the greatest commandment. It’s all about love. After all God is love.

And loving our neighbour just means those around us, even those people who dress differently than us, who think differently to us, who have different beliefs than us. Those people that we don’t always get along with, or want to get along with. As we love them, we are demonstrating our love for God also. For the apostle John in his first epistle writes “Anyone can say, “I love God,” yet have hatred toward another believer. This makes him a phony, because if you don’t love a brother or sister, whom you can see, how can you truly love God, whom you can’t see? For he has given us this command: whoever loves God must also demonstrate love to others” – 1 John 4:20-21.

This is a tough call and a difficult ask. The romantic love of Valentine’s day may be easy, as easy as popping to the shops and buying a card and some flowers, but the powerful and robust, unconditional love of God; the Agape love of God; is much harder to do. Indeed, it is impossible for us to do in our own power and strength. We can only accomplish it by God’s Spirit moving in and through our lives.

So this week as we are reminded of love wherever we go, let us remember that God loves us with an unconditional and reckless love and as we are transformed by that love, let us love those around us with the love He gives us.

Be blessed!