No Greater Love - February 2023

I'm not sure if you have noticed or not, but there are calendars circulating that have multiple "days" for people to commemorate. There is literally a "day" for everything.   Some of those days are National Hot Chocolate Day, National Pizza Day, and National Compliment Day to name a few. In the month of February, notable holidays on the calendar are Presidents’ Day, Black History Month, and the one that most either love or hate, Valentine’s Day. Many people view Valentine’s Day as either a man-made holiday for people to spend money on their significant other, or a holiday that is centered around love. With so many worldly definitions of love, as Christians we have to ask ourselves, what does the word say about love?

During Pastor Walter‘s sermon series, The Good Christian, he delivered a message that talked about what love really is, and what love looks like when it comes from a Christian. In 1 Corinthians 13, love is described as patient, kind, not rude, not self seeking it. It goes on to clarify to us that love never fails, never gives up, always hopes, and always perseveres. (1 Corinthians 13:4-7)  Because we are Christian, our example of love an all things,  is Jesus. There is no greater love that has been shown in the history of mankind than Jesus dying a criminals death on the cross for and for me. Jesus stood in our place for every sin we have committed in the past, are committing now, and will commit in the future, all so that we will have the opportunity to spend eternity in Heaven with Him. In many areas of the New Testament, Jesus speaks about what it looks like to be His follower. One specific passage in John compares the behavior of people to a tree bearing fruit. (Matthew 7:15-20) The Word says people will recognize us by our actions, our fruit. Christians are supposed to stand out or be different from those who are not Christian (1 Peter 2:9). The difference is the way that we act (in other words, our fruit), and the love we show one to another. (John 13:35)

As Christians the primary fruit that we should show is love. God our Creator and  Father is love. (John 4:7-8, John 3:16-17) As His children, we too have a great capacity to love. Love can be shown through praying for someone without boasting about it. (Matthew 6:1) Love is blessing someone with dinner when you know they are super busy with a new baby. Love is taking groceries to senior saint who may have difficulty getting around. Love is picking up the phone to call someone to let them know that they were on your mind versus sending them a quick text. There are so many things that we can do to show love. As we move throughout the month of February, and we think about what the world says love is, let’s try our best to silence that, and remember what the Word says love is. As Christians, love is our superpower. Love is what makes us unique. Love makes us special. 

Don't keep God's love to yourself. We will never be able to love others the way God loves us, but the least we can do is love others in a way that shows who God really is. When we don't know what to say or what do do, you can't go wrong with love.


References
Biblica, Inc. (1984, 2011). The Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Harper Collins Publishers.
Tyndale House Foundation. (1996, 2004, 2015). Holy Bible, New Living Translation. Carol Stream, Illinois. All rights reserved.: Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers.
Win Calendar. (2022-2023). Win Calendar. Retrieved from Win Calendar US: https://www.wincalendar.com/Holiday-Calendar/January-2023