The Power of Love 

   “The power of love is a curious thing.  Makes one man weep and another man sing.  Change a hawk to a little white dove.  More than a feeling, that’s the power of love.’ (The Power of Love by Huey Lewis, lyrics by Huey Lewis, John Victor Colia, Christopher John Hayes.) 

   There is nothing in this world that is more powerful than love.  And the most powerful love of all is the love of God.  Love is unique in that the more we give away we the more we receive.  And when we love God above all else the return of love is boundless, allowing us to love others with an even greater love.

   Sometimes we get confused about what love is; we think it is just a feeling.  Love can produce some of the strongest feelings we will ever know but love itself is not a feeling.  It is a conscious decision to love another more than self, to desire their well-being and happiness above our own.  We will give up things we love for the love of another and never expect return.

   St. Paul’s description of love is a beautiful statement of what true love is; “Love is patient, love is kind.  It is not jealous, is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.  It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”  1 Cor 13: 4 – 7).

   When we offer all our love to God we receive far more in return than we can ever give.  When we freely give our love to God and to one another, we will begin to understand why love is the greatest power in the world.