Do you believe that you can fall in love? I say maybe. Do you believe you can fall out of love? I do not. What is it about love that causes us to want it so much? Where does love come from? Is love just that mussy feeling that we get for another person from the opposite sex? Let me share with you what I have learned about love and hope.
I started out with the question about falling in love and answered it maybe and my guess is most people said yes. I believe that is true because the term is frequently used in our culture today and has been probably for decades if not centuries. I said maybe because I am aware of people that have loved someone in a very short period of time. In fact, I know someone who met and were married within six weeks who are happily married more than a decade later. However, I believe that usually we grow into love because I also believe that you never stop growing in love once true love begins. I am cautious to talk about using falling in love because if you can fall in why can you not fall out of love?
I have learned what true love is. It is not that mushy feeling we get for a person of the opposite sex alone. Yes, I have experienced that feeling a few times in my life but was that love? Maybe, maybe not. You see I have found that true love is not actually just a feeling but it is a commitment to another person. The Apostle Paul talks about love in 1 Corinthians 13. I hope you take some time to read the whole chapter it is amazing the things I have learned from it. “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful: it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (ESV) I see somethings in this passage that are words that describe commitment I do not see words that describe a mushy feeling. I see patient, does not insist, is not irritable or resentful, does not rejoice in wrong doing, rejoices in the truth, bears, believes, hopes, and endures. Do you have that kind of love for another? I do.
I then ask my question where does this kind of love come from. It does not come from man’s heart. Jesus says, “But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person.” Matthew 15:18-20a (ESV) I do not see the word love in His list. So, where then does love come from? The easy answer is that it comes from the Holy Spirit that dwells in my heart and enables me to love through His heart. The Apostle John tells me this in 1 John 4:12, 19, “No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. We love because he first loved us.” (ESV) 1 John is filled with information about love.
When I have this kind of love in my heart, I have hope that springs forth no matter the circumstances. I pray that you will find the true source of true love and live in a constant state of hope as I do. I pray you will seek God for love the kind of love that is everlasting. Know you can trust the promises of God and realize the same love and hope that only comes from Jesus. It is through a relationship with God through Jesus that solves the problem of sin and brings us hope in the present and the future. I would also encourage you to seek Jesus for He is the only opportunity there is to have eternal life. This is to me the greatest source of hope. In doing so, I believe we will have hope and joy in our everyday lives. Understanding how Jesus Christ grants us access to eternal life, allows us to live in hope. “And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” John 17:3 (ESV) At the same time understanding you will live eternally knowing the only true God and Jesus Christ will also bring you the greatest hope. Because of the death of Jesus Christ on the cross satisfied the penalty for sins. His payment satisfies all my sins from the past, the present and in the future. My penalty and yours was satisfied on the cross by the death of Jesus, God’s greatest act of love and wrath, who became sin for me and you. It was also God’s greatest act of faithfulness because “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8 (ESV) Because holiness shows us, we need to believe in Jesus. I hope that you join me in helping others to choose Jesus.
If you have not read my previous blogs, you can find them here.
You can watch book trailer about my book.
You can find my book, Hope Amid Hopelessness: Our Abba Father Provides a Way Through Mental Illness here.
eBook or Audiobook versions can be found at Westbow Press or Christianbook.com at Amazon or Google.
