August 17, 2005

 

Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails…

--1 Corinthians 13:4-8

 

E.V. Hill, the powerful preacher of the Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church in inner-city Los Angeles, had a straight-forward approach to sharing Christ that often gave him trouble—even death threats. On one particular occasion, he received notice that he would be killed the next day.

 

He woke up the next morning to find that his wife was gone. He looked out the window and noticed the car was gone as well. He went outside and finally saw her drive up. Infuriated he said, “Where have you been?”

 

His wife replied, “It just occurred to me that they could have put a bomb in that car last night, and if you had gotten in there you would have been blown away. So I got us and drove it. It’s all right.”

 

After this incident, E.V. Hill said, “I knew all along that my wife loved me, but I saw a love like I could never before understand.”

 

Love is a verb that you can’t define. It is practical, purposeful, and permanent. Real love exists when you don’t feel like loving. It’s the mother up at 3:00 a.m. taking care of her crying baby. It’s the man who stays by his wife’s bedside day and night through her illness. It’s the man or woman who grieves or rejoices with his or her friend no matter the circumstances. It’s the parents who stand by their children in difficult and rebellious times when they don’t understand why.

 

We are to love because God is love and He first loved us. God loved us so much that He sent His only Son to Earth and allowed Him to be brutally beaten and nailed to a cross so that we might have forgiveness and everlasting life. That’s true love. Ask the Lord to help you love those who are unlovable. Choose to remove the indifference from your heart and fill it with God’s love.

 

PLEASURE, MATERIAL THINGS, AND PERSONAL

ACHIEVEMENT WILL FADE AWAY, BUT TRUE LOVE NEVER FAILS.