04 Oct Love is a Choice
Read Deuteronomy 6:4-5
Thought for the Day: Love is a choice!
When I stand before couples at weddings, I remind them that love is the most misunderstood word in society. In English, we only have one word for ‘love’ despite many different forms. While the Greeks have agape, philo, eros, and storge, we are left using the same word to describe feelings for newborn babies or our preference for pizza. Of course, the love I have for my granddaughter carries a responsibility and depth that my love for pineapples on pizza doesn’t. It is easy to falsely equivocate various forms of love if we are not careful. That is why it’s helpful to understand agape-love which is often called, God’s love. While my love for a hobby or food is fickle, unconditional love in action is not.
We like to think that we would reject fickle ‘love’ in favor of agape-love, but this is easier said than done. To truly understand God’s unconditional love in action, it is important to back and look at what was commanded in Deuteronomy. When Moses recorded the way God asks each of us to live, he wrote, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” The love described here is an action requiring consistency. We fall into the trappings of fickle love when we only love with some of our heart, soul, and strength. God wants us to love with our whole hearts so we can make love our lifestyle.
We live in a time that emphasizes keeping our options open. Our culture continues to emphasize limiting risk and exposure. But, God’s unconditional love in action requires us to take a risk and be willing to love God with our whole being. Throughout our lives, we will hear many messages about love. Let’s use today to realize that we can choose to love God with our whole hearts!
In Christ,
Pastor Stan (and David)
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