1-4-2017

Good Morning All,

           Matthew 22: 37-39; “And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.  And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

     In 1976, a new group on the scene called “Boston” released a song entitled “More than a Feeling”.  It was a song about a guy who let his one true love gets away.  There are old songs that remind him that this love for the long lost love is more than just a feeling but rather a deep seated response to the world around him.

    While it is a popular rock song from the 1970’s, it expresses an opinion about love that is contrary to the world’s view.  The world will tell you that you have to feel in love.  The world tells you if you feel it then you are in love but if you don’t feel it then you are not in love.  According to this thought, you could be in and out of love a dozen times a day.  The world tells you that love is what you feel and if you don’t feel it then, whatever.  This is not how Scriptures explains love.  In Scriptures, love is “more than a feeling!”

    Love is more than a feeling; love is an action.  In the world, love is more of an adjective, describing you as a person.  In Scriptures, love is a verb; love is an action.  Love is a definitive action that we do.  We must act in order to love.   Love is more than a feeling; it is an action.  Love is more than a feeling; it is motion or movement that makes itself known by doing something for another person.

   We see love in its purest form when see how God loves us.  God’s love for us is seen in Jesus dying for us.  The Apostle Paul tells us that “while we were yet sinners; Christ died for us.”  In other words, while we still hated God, he was dying for us to being us back into his family and to give us hope.  We see it when we look and see how Jesus went out and actively sought out the sick, the lame and the hurting.  We see true love in everything that God does for us.

    For us to love is to show action.  To say that we love God is to praise him, to thank him and to follow his will.  This type of love is more than a feeling; it is also a change in our lives that the world will see.  True love is seen by its actions; it is more than a feeling.

    Part of this love is seen in our response to others.  How we act toward and how we treat others will show as well.  It is not enough to “have good thoughts;” true love acts on behalf of another.  True love is an action that benefits the other person and not you.  True love makes the life of the other person better.  True love is what you do not what you feel.  It is deeper than a feeling; it is more than a feeling; it is an event for someone you know.

God of love, in you we see true love in action.  Move us by your Spirit to love as you have loved us.  Move us to act, to show your love though our actions to others.  Move us by your Spirit to make the lives of those around us to be easier, happier and more fulfilling.  Cause us to reach out to those who are especially in need of your love.  Act through our hands.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret