Love

The month of love has arrived. I so enjoy Valentine's Day things: the colors red, pink, and purple, hearts, cards with catchy phrases, flowers, can't leave out CHOCOLATE, but most of all Valentine's Day is about LOVE! I love LOVE!

I read this quote and got to thinking about what love is to me: "Love is the thing that enables a woman to sing while she mops up the floor after her husband has walked across it in his barn boots." ~Author unknown

Love is a strange emotion, that is for sure! Love makes us say and do things we didn't even know we were capable of. Love motivates us to get out of the recliner to go outside and play with our children even after a long day of work. Love is what keeps us going even in the storms of life.
Love is what helps Mothers function on very little sleep, clean house, wash clothes and cook meals over and over again. Love is what gets Dad out of the bed each morning come rain or shine to go to a job to provide for his family. Love is what helps us overlook the faults in others and to be kind to them anyway. Love is what keeps husbands and wives faithful to each other. Love is what keeps born again church members faithful to their church. Love is what keeps friendships alive through thick and thin, from near and far. Love is what helps us to want to forgive...and to say "I'm sorry."

Love affects our lives every day whether we think about it or not. WHAT AND WHO WE LOVE is evident in our lives each day. My children and I used to have this little game we'd play...One of us would ask the other: "Who do you love?" and the other one would begin naming names of people we love all the way down to our pets!

Who do I love? Since I was old enough to remember, I have loved my parents. That didn't make me a perfect child by any stretch of the imagination, but my love for them motivated me to be obedient, respectful, and it also helped me during peer pressure to make right decisions because I didn't want to disappoint them or to ruin their good name. My love for my teachers and classmates in school affected my life from day to day. I loved one of my friends so much that when I was in first grade, I decided to ride the school bus home with her. (not my bus route) I desired to please my teachers and to be a true friend to my school mates, not two faced and fake. Because of those decisions, almost 40 years since starting to school, I still have wonderful friends from school. And what about that MUSHY love I discovered that I felt for a certain Alabama boy? That love made me want to be by his side even if it meant going to the ends of the earth- or in my case New Orleans. That love made me want to make a vow to love, honor, and obey him in front of my family, his family, our friends, and our God...and to REALLY REALLY MEAN IT! Our wedding's theme was Whither Thou Goest, found in the book of Ruth. I tell people now that I had no idea what I was saying! I really didn't, but I've stuck with Whither Scot goest, I have gone, Whither Scot lodgest, I have lodged, his people have been my people and his God has been my God. This will be our 25th Valentine's Day as sweethearts; with 24 of those as Mr. and Mrs. Love is what has kept us together through times of hardship, sickness, HORMONES, and other strains and struggles of life. The love of motherhood: Love for my children is what kept me determined to be consistent in their upbringing. Love for my children is what gave me the strength to abide by the verses in Deuteronomy 6 to the best of my ability. My version: Talk of Him when thou sittest, when you walk by the way. Talk of Him at bedtime and at the break of day. Write His words upon the post of your earthly home. Talk of HIM, pass HIM on. My love for others is what gives me a desire to help them, to show kindness, and to befriend them.

ONLY, and I do mean ONLY by the Grace of God and the love HE put deep within me am I able to love the above people like I do. What is love? GOD IS LOVE. (I John 4:16) Is it always easy to love? Goodness no! Someone was showing a man a picture of their new dog in a restaurant. When this person stopped at the man's table, the person said, "You like dogs, don't you?" And the man said, "Yes, I like dogs more than people!" He was being humorous, but sometimes there is truth in that. People, including myself are not always lovable and easy to love. We can be downright mean and ugly! Have you ever tried to show kindness and love to someone who acted like they didn't want your kindness and love? Well, I have, and immediately my carnal mind said, "Fine-I don't have to be kind and I don't have to love." Oh, BUT I DO! Yep, God tells us over and over to Love One Another, and he fails to say, LOVE THEM IF THEY LOVE ME BACK or LOVE THEM IF THEY ARE NICE AND APPRECIATIVE. Nope, He just said, LOVE. My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. I John 3:18

Why do we love? But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8

For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16

Herin is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. I John 4:10-11

This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. John 15:12

So, who do you love?

Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it. Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Matthew 22: 36-39

(This post is also at this blog site: http://kjvblogs.blogspot.com/)