LOVE

Jason and I had a rough weekend a while back. After it was all over and things were put right once again, I couldn't help but ponder "love".

What is love? The Bible says "God is love" (1 John 4:16). And so, by faith, that is what I believe. So, in a marriage, I only love Jason because of God's existence.

During our frustrating weekend, I can say I really didn't "like" Jason, but I still loved him. I think, if you really have love, if you really have God, than love between two people can never end, for God is everlasting and ever-present. That love can never go away. So, I guess, love is very different than what the world thinks it is. It is not a feeling. It is real. It is alive. It is something that you do. You choose. Accept. Give.

People who fall out of love, I don't think were really in love (I'm stirring the pot!). For instance, I could have easily made myself think I had fallen out of love with Jason last weekend. But really, that wasn't it at all. Things just weren't going MY way. That is not what love is about. Love is always about giving; if it ever changes from that, it is no longer love that you are serving. "For God so loved the world, that he GAVE... (John 3:16).

Really, again, I look at my life and I come to see that the only things that have made me change, grow, and become alive, are the things that have caused me affliction. I am not who I am today because of the happy, easy-going moments I have experienced through my life. Those are the times when I come to realize that Love was victorious again, that I was lifted from affliction once again, with a Saviour who is not done with me yet!

And, so, I will try to remember, each time, when affliction is in my path, to keep my feet walking forward, knowing that LOVE is with me always.