This is Valentine’s week. Whether you enjoy it, or can’t wait for it to pass on by, February 14 will roll around this Friday. Cyberspace is already cluttered with love memes, gifs, wisecracks, sweet sentiments, and gift suggestions.
I treasure the blessing of being surrounded by loving people. I've known my husband since we were children. We have been married for forty-seven years and he still rocks my world, makes my toes curl up when he kisses me, and enriches my life with love and laughter.
 |  |
In addition to marital bliss, I am blessed with the love of family and friends. I don’t take that for granted. I know what a gift love is in our fractured world. I am especially thankful for the agape love of God, our Father, that we see so beautifully expressed in the life and ministry of Jesus, the Son.
Although love was certainly in the air as I clicked my way around the net this morning, there was also a jarring juxtaposition of hate. On the same social media sites brimming with love and good will, there were messages and memes rife with rancor, hate, judgment, and divisiveness. Some of these venomous posts were made by people who claim to be followers of Jesus. This puzzles me. How can those who claim to love God express hatred for so many of the people God created?
Although love was certainly in the air as I clicked my way around the net this morning, there was also a jarring juxtaposition of hate. On the same social media sites brimming with love and good will, there were messages and memes rife with rancor, hate, judgment, and divisiveness. Some of these venomous posts were made by people who claim to be followers of Jesus. This puzzles me. How can those who claim to love God express hatred for so many of the people God created?
What causes this great disconnect? I mulled over the implications of the dichotomy of love and hate as I dusted this afternoon. I have a collection of nativities from all over the world that I keep out year-round. There are currently thirty-seven of them displayed on a wall of shelves in our den. I reminisced about where we had found each one as I picked up all the Marys and Josephs and angels and shepherds and wise men and babes in a manger made of wood and clay and bread dough and glass and pewter and stone. I dusted each piece and put each one back in place on the shelves. In the process, I touched Jesus thirty-seven times.
 |  |
Oh.
The amazing force of the gospel of love is never released until we touch Jesus and he touches us. Until that happens, we only have religion and religion is never enough to overcome hate. Religion consists of rules and regulations. It allows us to use God as an excuse for bigotry and exclusion in the name of piety. God becomes little more than an extension of our political position, the head of another civic organization, a symbol to validate our prejudices and judgmental views.
God does not call us to be religious. He calls us to have a relationship with him through his Son, Jesus. This relationship requires us to love every person whether we want to or not. It commands us to forgive, accept, embrace, and include even when it is inconvenient and outside our comfort zone. Having a relationship with Jesus is the only way to know his heart of love. It is the only way to channel that love to everyone he brings into our circle of life.
The amazing force of the gospel of love is never released until we touch Jesus and he touches us. Until that happens, we only have religion and religion is never enough to overcome hate. Religion consists of rules and regulations. It allows us to use God as an excuse for bigotry and exclusion in the name of piety. God becomes little more than an extension of our political position, the head of another civic organization, a symbol to validate our prejudices and judgmental views.
God does not call us to be religious. He calls us to have a relationship with him through his Son, Jesus. This relationship requires us to love every person whether we want to or not. It commands us to forgive, accept, embrace, and include even when it is inconvenient and outside our comfort zone. Having a relationship with Jesus is the only way to know his heart of love. It is the only way to channel that love to everyone he brings into our circle of life.
We need to remember that before we say something snarky about a person or group, post something hateful online, or look down our noses at anyone in the wide world around us. The commercial day for celebrating love will be over after Friday. But the time for celebrating the truth of the love of God never ends. The only way to stay in touch with real love is to stay in touch with Jesus through learning about his life and ministry, spending time with him in prayer, and seeking to become more like him by looking for ways to bless others. Learning to love like Jesus is an excellent way to bloom where we are planted, living a faith of hope and joy.
Practical Priorities Newsletter
Free Newsletter! Join the Practical Priorities Email Friends Crew to get real food recipes, fibromyalgia recovery strategies, healthy living tips, devotional of the month, and practical life hacks about everything delivered right to your inbox. Just fill in your email address, check the box to opt in, and click subscribe to newsletter. (Note: My newsletter service will only send out newsletters to those who check the box.) Thanks for joining the growing Practical Priorities community!
Let's be friends. Join my social media community.
RSS Feed