What’s Love Got to Do With It? – Absolutely Everything!
*originally posted at womendevotions.com
With Valentine’s Day fast approaching, here comes the obligatory Love post. However, it should be no secret that Love is central to the theme of the Christian Community. If it’s not, therein lies the problem and this post is more needed than some may realize.
With love being as big and as important of a topic as it is for us as followers of Christ, I simply can’t cover all that could or should be said in one post. For today, I’ll suggest that love provides a platform, love is not tolerance and love tops all. So, in the famous words of Tina Turner, “What’s love got to do with it?” Absolutely nothing? I say absolutely everything! Say it again!
Love Provides Platform
What do I mean by this? Well, have you heard the saying “they don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care?”
You can’t lead, parent, befriend or teach anyone until they feel loved by you. It goes hand in hand with the fact that people won’t do as you say, they’ll do as you do. Practice what you preach. Walk the talk. If Christ IS literally love (1 John 4:8) and we call our selves Christians (Christ-like) then love should be the basis for everything we say and do.
Now does this mean we love to gain platform?
Of course not. If that’s your goal, then you have no idea what love is or how to live it. I’m simply trying to convey that we all have things deep inside of us that we are crazy passionate about and are trying to share with others constantly; whether it be politics, human rights, opinions, insights or anything else. And, the only way to be able to do that without wasting our breath or energy is to make sure it’s secondary to shelling out love and grace like the bubonic plague.
I know I for one don’t care what you have to help me unless I know for a fact your motive is to actually help ME and not yourself. Are you picking up what I’m putting down?
So, how do you do that? Be patient, kind, don’t be jealous of others, or brag about yourself, do not embarrass or insult others, don’t self-promote or lose your cool too easily, don’t keep track of everything people do wrong, don’t rejoice over evil, but always protect, trust, hope and keep on doing what’s right without giving up. (1 Corinthians 13) Consider everyone as better than you without diminishing your own value. (Philippians 2:3) If you do all of that before you ever share what’s on your mind, people will take you seriously and trust you. You’ll always have a platform with them whether they agree with you or not.
Love is Not Tolerance
Love does not mean we passively agree with everyone nor does it mean we turn a blind eye to what we believe with our whole hearts is the wrong actions of someone. It does mean that we approach everyone and everything with the principles of the above paragraph.
Tolerance is defined as the capacity to endure continued subjection to something or someone you don’t agree with. As people living out the principles of the Bible, I believe we are to not tolerate much at all. Hear me out…
If you’re tolerating “something” you don’t agree with, you may be either lazy or a coward. If you don’t agree with something, do something! Whether you’re learning more about the subject yourself so you can form an educated opinion or you’re teaching others whom you have a platform with, take action. Tolerance is inactivity and inactivity is faithless. (James 2:14-17)
If you’re tolerating someone, my guess is it looks something like this…
“ugh…that person. Oh well, I only have to endure an hour or so in the same room with them, I’ll just keep to myself over here doing my thing until this wretched hour is over“
Does tolerating seem Christ-like to you? An article at deliveredbygrace.com says this, “One of the greatest errors of many church members today is the idea that God is perfectly happy with us merely tolerating one another and refusing to love one another in the life of the church. God’s Word clearly teaches his people to love one another in a way that involves more than tolerance and casual passivity in the hallway of the local church building.” They go on to mention that love requires sacrifice and honors God. Go out of your way to fiercely love others. It will require you sacrificing your comfort and sometimes you may have to suppress your gag reflex. It’s worth it.
Love Tops All
Last but certainly not least, love tops all. 1 Corinthians 13:13 is a good verse to memorize for Valentine’s day. “Now these three remain: faith, hope, and love: but the greatest of these is love. I highly recommend that everyone give yourself a valentine this year and read Bob Goff’s Everybody Always. It will change your life.
Nothing means anything without love. God created the whole universe and the beginning of time and He IS love (John 1:1). That means Love created all things. Love is the purpose, reason and origin of everything. So, what’s love got to do, got to do with it? Absolutely everything!Love 2 comments 0
