Why Love Matters

Let's start off this story with a line from the old Don Henley song, The Boys of Summer.

"I thought I knew what love was.  What did I know."

We go through our lives with changing ideas about just what love is. It begins with the simple, honest love of a small child. Jesus wrote about these kids and their faith saying, "

"Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." - Matthew 19:14

Is a child's love different from their faith? Not really, if you think about it. Both are simple, honest, and unconditional.

As we grow older our "love definition" changes, as do our beliefs. They become conditional and more self-centered. It's all about me instead of all about Thee. Both get entangled and mixed with other feelings - lust, and selfishness mainly. One word - sin.

We find ourselves alone, wondering what happened to the love we once had?  That childlike love, when things were simple and life was good. Do you ever long for those days? Would you like to go back to that simpler time and experience true love all over again? Yes, be we can't.

Our love for others continues to become more complex and we lose track of its true meaning and intention. It becomes contaminated by the world we live in.

Finally, we come to the end of our lives, when someone is in their last days of life, what does of love look like for them then? Often it is extremely lonely. What can be done? I have a few suggestions.

1. Love everyone we meet. And love them unconditionally. Jesus already commanded us to do this but we always seem to forget just what His love was like, to our detriment.

2. Get off our butts and GO love someone! Visit someone, invite them to lunch. If they're not doing it, we should call them up and take the initiative.

3. Send someone a text or message. Maybe they're having a really bad day and when we reach out, they know someone cared enough to actually act.

If we sit at home and "hope" someone is doing okay, what good is that? We could, and should, pray for people. But God placed us here for a reason. Not simply to think, but to act.

How are we doing with that?

"But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first." - Revelation 2:4

The Boys of Summer - Don Henley