For the Love of God 

   “My dear people, since God has loved us so much, we too should love one another.” (1 John 4: 11) 

   I’ve come to believe that we do not understand what love is at all.  I’m sick of people saying they “love” their new car, or the latest cellphone.  How can you “love” your favorite meal?  How does an inanimate object, such a car or the newest electronic equipment warrant love?  They can’t.

   What we should be saying is we “like” these things. which is a whole different concept.  I believe that by liking and enjoying the blessings God has given we are also showing love to Him, we recognize that all we have has been given us by our Lord.  When we love what does not warrant love we are robbing God of the love He deserves.

   Jesus didn’t come to love objects but people, the people He gave His life to save.  His love was such that nothing, pain, rejection, humiliation, betrayal and even death on the cross could lessen the love He has for each of us.

   Let’s quit offering our pathetic idea of love to anything and everything.  Let’s fully understand what love is, the conscious desire for the good of the other even in the face of extreme hardship and denial of ourselves.  This is the love that Christ gave to us, and this is the love others deserve from us.  No matter how much we may say we “love” our car we would never consider giving up our life for it.  But that is exactly what Christ did out of His love for us.  That is the love of God, the kind of love we are to have for Him and for our neighbors.