love

you can't just say i love you. you have to live i love you.- ben harper

what is love? it's such a complicated word. it's such a simple word.

god is love. the greatest commandment? to love god and the second is like it, love your neighbor.

we are all called to love. yet love can look so different to all people. for some love is a fleeting act of kindness for others love is patience in their everyday life. although it looks so different and comes in many shapes, sizes, colors and smells...love is love is love.

nothing can separate you from the love of god made visible in christ our Lord. everything else will pass away but the love of christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. faith will become vision, hope will become possession, but the love of jesus christ endures forever. in the end, it is the one thing that i can hang onto.

love conquers all. i truly believe this statement. poverty, racism, discrimination-all of this could be conquered by one simple raw thing-love.

the nature of god’s love for me is outrageous. why doesn’t my god display some taste and discretion in dealing with me? why doesn’t he show more restraint? to be blunt about it, couldn’t god arrange to have a little more dignity? no, the love of my god isn’t dignified at all, and apparently that’s the way he expects my love to be for others.

one of my heros is the late mother teresa. now here is a woman who knew what true love meant. my favorite quote is by her; she says "the success of love is in the loving, not in the result of loving. of course, it's natural in love to want the best for the person, but rather it turns out that way or not does not determine the value of what we have done."

i am learning that what i do with my life is not nearly as important as who i am. i can "do" youth ministry but what kind of youth minister am i? we can be doctors or lawyers or teachers but what kind of doctors or lawyers or teachers are we?

shane claiborne writes in my favorite book, irresistible revolution, "It’s a beautiful thing when folks in poverty are no longer just a missions project but become genuine friends and family with whom we laugh, cry, dream, and struggle with. Servant hood is a fine place to begin but gradually we move toward mutual love, genuine relationships.”

love does not have to be some great thing. some extraordinary or splendid activity. love just has to be genuine.

i am beginning to see god's image in everyone i meet. i am choosing people, not issues. i am choosing love, not charity. i am choosing to look through christ eyes not my plank filled judging eyes. i am choosing to believe the impossible and to do the unreasonable. to speak truth where there is nothing but lies. to speak love where hate fills hearts. to speak hope where there is dispair. to speak faithfulness not success. to speak servanthood not power. to speak love in actions not words.

may i spend my life living the jesus way of life. may i spend my life loving others because he first loved us. may i live a life of love.