That is a serious question.
Some people don’t.
They love things.
They love what people can do for them… but they don’t love people.
Time for some self-reflection.
How do you know if you love someone?
By your thoughts and actions.
If you think… I want… I need… I, I, I… that is not love.
The bible tells us what love is:
LOVE IS PATIENT, LOVE IS KIND. IT DOES NOT BOAST, IT IS NOT PROUD. IT DOES NOT DISHONOUR OTHERS, IT IS NOT SELF- SEEKING. IT IS NOT EASILY ANGERED. IT KEEPS NO RECORD OF WRONGS. LOVE DOES NOT DELIGHT IN EVIL BUT REJOICES WITH THE TRUTH. IT ALWAYS PROTECTS, ALWAYS TRUSTS, ALWAYS HOPES, ALWAYS PERSEVERES.
1 CORINTHIANS 13: 4-7
So it is not a rush of passion or gratification. It is something you give to others without hope of reward or return.
It is empathy. But not too much... more like compassion...
It is feeling others' pain and seeking to relieve it. It is wanting what is best for others.
It is self-sacrificing.
It is the highest of all emotions.
Something beyond description almost…
because if you have never felt nor expressed love for another you cannot begin to understand what it is.
There is no comparator to love.
It is what propels man towards his highest acts of being.
This should be easy. Make a list of all the people you love.
Your mum….
Your dad…
Your son…
Your husband…
Your friends.
Dig deep.
Think of everyone in your life who you love.
Now set yourself a target to add one person to that list every day.
It can be anybody.
Your teacher.
The woman at the supermarket checkout.
The man who fixed your car.
Each day look for someone new to love.
Just say to yourself… “I love you”… when you are interacting with them.
Now see how your life changes.
Suddenly you are surrounded by people you love instead of idiots.
God, of course, is love. What an amazing God he is that he commanded us to love him first and to love each other.
WE LOVE BECAUSE HE FIRST LOVED US. IF ANYONE SAYS “I LOVE GOD”, YET HE HATES HIS BROTHER, HE IS A LIAR. FOR ANYONE WHO DOES NOT LOVE HIS BROTHER, WHOM HE HAS SEEN, CANNOT LOVE GOD, WHOM HE HAS NOT SEEN.
1 JOHN 4: 20
So the commandment from God is to love.
Only love transcends pain.
Only love makes life worth living.
Only love, the people we love, not the objects, binds us to this planet.
Only love enables us to see God.
God can only be glimpsed through love and you cannot feel love for God if you do not love each other.
Not my words… God’s.
FATHER GOD WE ASK THAT YOU GUIDE US IN LOVE AND HELP US TO EXPRESS LOVE EVERYWHERE WE GO, AND TO EVERYONE WE MEET. WE ASK THAT THE HOLY SPIRIT FLOWS FROM US IN AN EXPRESSION OF PURE LOVE. IN JESUS NAME WE PRAY. AMEN