Why Love is the Greatest of These
That's because if I have faith that can move mountains and have hope to someday fathom the mysteries of life, but have not love I am nothing, Paul the apostle declares in 1Corinthians.
It has been the subject of songs, poems and movies. There are more novels and self-help aids both in print and audio on the topic. And yet love remains elusive. Worldwide statistics on failed relationships bears this truth.
Part of our problem is we source our understanding of love from people who have consistently proven to fail in it. We refuse to acknowledge that there is but one source of true love ‚ God, everyone else will fail us.
God is Love
There are not very many verses that say-God is- in the Bible. The Bible tells us that God is holy, God is light and most of all it says God is love.
God does not just know how to love - He is love. Without God love does not exist. When we try to conjure love and leave God out of the equation we have ensured our failure in love. Only God can teach and empower us to love Him and others.
First Love
If love is the greatest of all, then we should make it our priority to live in love everyday. Here's a practical tip on how to love God and love others. The apostle John writes, "We love because He first loved us.- 1John 4:19
Our ability to love is predicated by experiencing His love first in each passing day. First when we awake, first as in ‚ priority, first in our minds, and first in our hearts.
Forgotten First Love
It was also John who wrote the church of Ephesus and warned: "Yet I hold this against you, ' you have forgotten your first love." Revelation 2:4
It is not unusual to forget the love that you had at first. It is easy to be distracted. Particularly, when it comes to God who is not the "demanding- or nagging type. God is so secure there is not a needy thing about Him.
The Greek word for first is "protus- it means foremost or nothing like it. This is the secret to having the love of God. Make Him the foremost. Look to God as the one and only, nothing and no one like Him.
Kinda' Like Mt. Everest
If you ask people what is the tallest mountain in the world. The top of mind or first answer is Mount Everest. The reason why is because it is the foremost, nothing quite like it.
If you ask people what is the second tallest mountain in the world? Majority would be hard pressed to figure out what it is, simply because it is a far second.
This is how we are to treat our relationship with God, protus, foremost, nothing quite like it. If we are asked what is the greatest love there is, our definitive answer should be ‚ Jesus. Nothing and no one compares.
My Comments Policy
While my site offers visitors the ability to converse, I have a few ground rules so that our conversations will remain civil and courteous.
1. You must register in order to leave a comment. I don’t entertain pseudo, anonymous or bogus individuals. This site is my home (it has a Home Page, get it). I don’t let strangers who don’t introduce themselves into my home.
2. I love questions. I love them because a lot of times they are similar to someone else’s questions and can even trigger other questions from others. Questions also keep us all sharp. This is also why I respond to them as best as I can and at the soonest possible time. I believe that group answering benefits more people than private email exchanges.
3. We don’t have to agree. Debates are welcome. However, whether it is with me or any other visitors of my site, my rule is this: disagree if you must but keep things civil. That’s just how I run my home, and you are a visitor here. No shouting; I have seen it done in writing. No cursing and no insulting.
4. I reserve the right to delete your comments. Like I said, this is my home. I do not have an obligation to publish your comments. As a human being, you may enjoy the freedom to express your opinions on your own site but not on mine. To be specific, I will delete your comments if you post content that is in my sole opinion: (a) snarky; (b) off-topic; (c) libelous, defamatory, abusive, harassing, threatening, profane, pornographic, offensive, false, misleading, or which otherwise violates or encourages others to violate my sense of decorum, civility or any law, including intellectual property laws; or (d) “spam,” i.e. an attempt to advertise, solicit, or otherwise promote goods and services. You may, however, post a link to your site or your most recent blog entry.
5. You retain ownership of your comments. I do not own them and I expressly disclaim any and all liability that may result from them. By commenting on my site, you agree that you retain all ownership rights in what you post here and that you will relieve me from any and all liability that may result from those posts.
6. You grant me the license to post your comments. This license is worldwide, irrevocable, non-exclusive, and royalty-free. By posting comments on my site, you automatically grant me the right to store, use, transmit, display, publish, reproduce, and distribute your comments in any format, including but not limited to a blog, in a book, video, or presentation.
In short, my goal is to host interesting conversations with caring, honest, and respectful people. I believe this clear and simple comments policy will facilitate this.
