unfailing love

‘Love never Fails …’ I Corinthians 13:8

It is Sunday – the last day of February

It is also the last day of our month-long focus on love

We have talked about what love is and what it is not

We have had some practical examples of love in action

We have challenged thoughts & opinions regarding love

And while there may be differing points of view, one thing is certain: we all know that love never, ever fails

Love is not always easy but it is always worth it

We discussed yesterday how we are made in the image of God, in the image of love

Understand that it is actually inhuman to be unloving

Yes, there is pain and sorrow in this fallen world where we all reside,

However, there are wonderfully joyous moments as well

Love can be full of uncertain moments and risks

Love involves the mind, will & emotions – it impacts the body, soul & spirit

The heart is vulnerable and subject to injury

And it may feel, and actually be, safer to avoid love altogether  –

It is safer, but much less interesting

It is better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all ...

I agree wholeheartedly

If we forever live in fear of being hurt and if we, as a result, refrain from giving or receiving love –we injure our own selves most severely

The venture into love is always worth the risk if for no other reason than to better know God and self

Love is a wonderful and awe-inspiring thing!

I have never regretted loving another human being – irrespective of the outcome

So today – let us live generously and love courageously

Love will never fail!

 

Have a Blessed Day!

‘Love never fails [it never fades or ends]’

I Corinthians 13:8AMP

love loves

“Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.” I Corinthians 13:4-8

 

Happy Friday!

I trust and pray all is well with you –

And that you are taking time to love – Love God, Love People, Love You

Yesterday we talked about love looks and how love looks with love

With a heart of grace, mercy and compassion

Yet we must understand that love not only looks with love – love loves

Love is not a concept or notion – Love is actively engaged in the process of loving

Loving God, Loving Others, Loving Self

We noted in our post a few days ago that ‘love will make you do some things’

If your love does not prompt you to action – you must question whether it is truly love

When we visited the Book of Ruth, we saw love in action in the lives of each character

The love Ruth had for Naomi moved her to move away from family, friends and country

The love Naomi had for her daughter-in-law prompted her to help her

The feelings Boaz had for Ruth were evidenced by what he was willing to do for her

'God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.’ John 3:16

It was the love of the LORD which inspired the action of giving

‘… Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us …’ Ephesians 5:2

It was the love of Christ that was the catalyst of His sacrifice

Anyone who does not act in love … does not love

‘Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.’ I John 4:8

what is your love saying? what is your love doing?

Is your love moving you to love?

I love you is one of the easiest things to say

I love you is much more difficult, but much more meaningful to show

‘by this will they know you are My disciples – if you have love one for another’ John 13:35

It is by the love we show one another – not the words we say to one another

What you do will often scream so much louder than what you say

Is your love serving as a springboard for acts of love?

If your love is not prompting you to action – you must question whether it is truly love

 

Have a Blessed Day!

 

‘ let everything you do be done in love’

I Corinthians 16:14

love looks

We have made it past the midpoint and we are sliding into the homestretch,

                Looking toward the weekend with loving thoughts of rest

And we are still talking about love

Again – we could look at love every February and never run out of material

Today we will be taking one last glance at the book of Ruth for ... love looks

I could not leave the book of Ruth without talking a bit more about Boaz

He is an interesting gentleman – not everyone’s pick, but interesting

Perhaps he was wealthy but 'not quite wealthy enough'

Perhaps he was not that handsome – there is no way to tell

But we do know he was older than Ruth and that he was still single

I don't know if Boaz was looking for love, waiting for love or if he was perfectly content

It is possible he might have been shunned because his mom was a former prostitute

                People will judge you by your associations and your past all the time

I cannot say with certainty that was the reason he was still single

But I am confident his past played a role in his treatment of Ruth

Boaz noticed something unique about Ruth – 

'All the people of my town know that you are a woman of noble character' Ruth 3:11

He likely saw some of the same qualities that he viewed growing up:

Courage, boldness & zeal – characteristics held by his mom, Rahab

Yes, his mom was Rahab, the famed harlot from the book of Joshua [Joshua 2:1, Mt. 1:5]

She was the Rahab who helped the spies when Israel got ready to lay siege to Jericho

She was a foreigner who helped God’s people and then came to live among them – just like Ruth

 

Your earliest reflections of love often shape your look of love

Yet, it does not matter the reasons which shaped Boaz’s response,

What matters is that he was able to look with love and with a heart of compassion

– on a foreigner in a strange land

He was able to look past her past and the fact that she was a poor widow

He was able to respond with kindness – to the kindness extended to him

‘The LORD bless you [Boaz replied] … this kindness is greater than that which you showed earlier: You have not run after the younger men, whether rich or poor. And now … don’t be afraid. I will do for you all you ask …’ Ruth 3:10-11

Boaz understood ‘love looks with love’

And it is alright  that Boaz might not have been everyone’s favorite

Because all that matters is that he became Ruth’s favorite when he looked on her with love

 

Have a Blessed Day!

‘ Praise be to the God and Father of our LORD Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves received from God.’

II Corinthians 1:3-4

it's not over

Good Afternoon Friends, Family, Foes … Everyone

Yes, I am greeting everyone this afternoon

Remember I said in our post 'choose to love',

‘Not everyone who comes to check on you is checking to see that you are doing well’?

But, if they take the time to check – you should at least be cordial

Why? Because we love all people and we trust the Holy Spirit to move – with all people

Now, that is not directly my topic this morning – but it is still all about love

And this morning, I want us all to understand something: 

No matter what it looks like, no matter how it feels, irrespective of how long the storm has been raging, despite your weariness – it’s not over

 

We have spent a great deal of time talking about Naomi

However, I would like to shift gears and talk about Ruth – the namesake of our Bible book

Now, we already know how Ruth’s story ended

But it would have been really easy, at any point along the way, for her to believe it was over

Therefore, I would like to focus on how Ruth’s story evolved and the role that love played

Ruth faced loss similar to Naomi – they both lost husbands

But where Naomi turned to bitterness – Ruth focused on living in love

She loved Naomi enough to leave parents, friends, country and everything familiar

She loved her future enough to refuse to be stuck in the past

Sounds extreme but, as we’ve noted previously, love will make you do some things

Now, we know from yesterday that Ruth ended up with a new love story

She ends up catching the eye of a local bachelor named Boaz

But what was it that Boaz found attractive about Ruth?

In a culture where widows were seen as misfortuned, what would make him take a chance?

It was her faithful and sacrificing nature … it was her love

“I’ve been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband – how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know. May you be richly rewarded by the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.” Ruth 2:11-12

Ruth’s name means ‘compassionate friend’ and that is exactly who she was

Her reputation of being a loving friend went before her and spoke on her behalf

Boaz had been told of what a friend she had been to Naomi

It had reached his attention all the things she did in love for her mother-in-law

He had been made aware of her selfless nature

Selflessness is attractive – selflessness not selfishness

And Boaz quickly took notice

You will recall his name means ‘swiftness’,

Emphasizing how quickly a situation can change when you walk in love

Even when you think it is over, the LORD can turn things around with a swiftness

It’s not over

Love will position you to keep believing when it seems all is lost

Love can pave the way for you to begin again

Love refuses to let you stagnate, remaining frozen in the past

Love will propel you forward –

Love lets you know that it’s not over

It creates new beginnings for you – just like it did for Ruth

And aren’t we all glad that she did not stop walking and living in love?

After all, she ended up becoming Jesus’ great-great grandma by over forty generations

So today – whatever you are facing, 'Keep going! It’s not over!'

‘Eye has not seen, ear has not heard, neither has it entered into the mind the things God has prepared for those who love Him.’ I Corinthians 2:9

You never know what God has in store for you …

 Have a Blessed Day!

‘ I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future’

Jeremiah 29:11