What’s up with love? What is it about love that compels us to seek it so? It’s not a skill. It can’t advance
us at work. It rarely makes us look good. What’s the deal? Paul tells us that the love of Christ compels us
to love each other. In other words, we are drawn to love and its effects. We like love letters, wall
hangings that say something about love (Live, Laugh, Love…), and the idea of love between friends. We
say we love food, love certain activities, and have a lack of love for things like yard work. Most of all, we
stick to the idea of marriage because we still believe it is the height of the expression of love found in
today’s world.

Here’s the rub: we like the idea of love but we don’t understand it. Jesus says love is sacrifice. It’s
obedience to the Father’s commands and it is one laying down life for another. John says it’s expressed
best by loving the least of these; the most unlovely among us. Jesus’ activities totally agree with this!
Paul says love is something that grows up in us. AKA, when we are children, we love like children, but
when we become adults, our expressions of love should be just as aged.

Most of us think of love as something gushy we feel and/or felt in school. We think of our wedding day.
We think of the few romantic evenings we’ve had between then and now. We think of how we feel
about our children. We think, albeit difficult for us to pin, about our Father’s love for us. But we do not
think about sacrifice. We do not think about obedience. We do not think about selflessness. We do not
think about maturity. Why not? Because we like our idea of love better than its Inventor.

That stings! If you are not showing sacrificial, selfless love to your spouse, you are not demonstrating
love towards God, no matter how much you say it or sing it on Sunday. If you are not showing lay-your-
life-down kind of love to the unlovely members of our society, I don’t care how you feel about the
matter, you are not showing love to God. What should you do about this? REPENT! Simply put yourself
on the ground before a holy God who loves you, and beg for His forgiveness. Begin to surrender yourself
to His Spirit and experience the transformation that occurs. I’ll bet you will find an eroding hardness in
your heart towards others that you didn’t expect. I’ll bet you will discover a renewed passion in your
marriage. This isn’t magical. It’s biblical! When we obey God’s design, He blesses us!

Give up your cheap love and witness first hand God’s renewal in your heart and life. I promise, it’s
lovely!