Incredible Love

Savior,

Thank you for blessing me even though I don't deserve it.  I am sinful yet you still care about me and you want the best for me.  I know that I can trust you through any and every circumstance whether good or bad.  You are worthy of all my praises.  I love you.

Amen

Every human on the planet is born with free will.  This means that regardless of what life throws our way, it is up to us what choices we make.  God did not create us to be like robots and force us to act in a certain manner.  Instead, he gave us free will because love is not really love unless we voluntarily choose it.  In other words, love is not genuine if we have no choice in the matter.

With that being said, I would like to camp out on the concept of love and explain just how powerful it truly is.  We as human beings can choose to either love someone or not love someone.  Allow me to contrast the two and see which one is worthy of choosing.  To begin, not loving someone would involve not caring and simply having no sympathy for others whatsoever.  What would this then create?  A world that is very cold, selfish, ugly, and bitter.  A world in which sin would run rampant and destruction its ultimate destiny.

On the flip side of the coin there is love.  God himself is love.  He is the very definition of all that is good and loving in existence.  He sent His one and only Son to die for us.  There is no greater love than when a person gives their life up for another.  What did Jesus' love create?  A world of redemption, of hope, of a bright and shining future that will be spent with Him for all of eternity.  When people model this type of sacrificial love, this warm, passionate, Christ-like love, it positively and profoundly impacts those around them.

If I offer to help an elderly woman out to her car and help load her groceries, that is an example of love.  If a life group volunteers at a homeless shelter, that is love.  If someone donates money to help put an end to abortion, that is love.  The more we show it, the better this world is going to become.  Christ set the best example that anyone could ever set.  He sacrificed his life so that we could live for Him and for the good of others.

See what some may not understand is that love is an action.  If I say that I love someone but then turn my back when they need my help then I do not love them.  If God said that He loves us but then lets us all live sinful, hopeless lives headed straight for destruction, He would not truly love us.  If love were simply an emotion, well...you and I both know that emotions change depending on circumstance.  True, Christ-like love does not change and is other-centered while revolving around the well-being of other people.  It is something you DO and not something simply felt, said, or thought about.  

We are capable of such incredible love with the help of the Holy Spirit in our hearts.  We can change the world one act at a time.  God's love will overflow from our hearts and into the lives of others if we allow it to.

So which one is worthy of choosing?  To love or not to love.  That is the question. 

Frankly, I would go with the former.