The “LOVE” challenge!


I felt compelled to write a post about love last week but I was so busy that I just didn’t have the

time to write it. But then a friend and blogger wrote an amazing post on love.I highly recommend
you check out her post on love entitled “God is love”. She does a great job of showing us what

love really is and simply stating that, God is love! (Read 1John 4:7-12)

God is love but what does that mean for us. If we serve a God who is love how does that affect us?
And this is what this post is about.
As I start I would like to share a scripture you all know, 1 Corinthians 13:3 (Message)
If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr,
but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m 
bankrupt without love. 
 
That is a pretty powerful description of how important love is in our lives. What this
scripture is basically saying is we are nothing without love, nothing!!! Take away love
from the person and you have nothing!!! That is a very sobering thought…. There are a lot of
times where I have not walked in love. (God help me to walk in love all the time)! The temptation
at times is to just love the people you know (your friends, family etc) but that is not enough in God’s eyes.
God is love and we are His children who are supposed to walk in love as well. And that means loving our neighbor!
1 Corinthians 14:1 says, Go after a life of love as if your life depended on it – because it does.
Your life depends on love. Forget oxygen, forget food!. Our lives DEPEND on love.
If we are to walk in love we need to know and understand what it looks like. We cannot fully
comprehend God’s love but at least we can get an idea from the word of God.
I am going to share 1 Corinthians 13:3-7  from the Message bible,
Love never gives up
Love cares more for others than for self
Love doesn’t want what what it doesn’t have
Love doesn’t strut
Doesn’t have a swelled head
Doesn’t force itself on others
Isn’t always “me first”, 
Doesn’t fly off the handle
Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others
Doesn’t revel when others grovel
Takes pleasure in the flowering of the truth
Puts up with anything
Trusts God always
Always looks for the best
Never looks back
But keeps going to the end.
As I end I would like you to remember that love is not easy. Jesus Christ died because He loved us.
You have to die to self if you are to walk in this kind of love. I have been challenged and I want to walk in real love,
God’s love. Let us ask the Holy Spirit for help. Are you willing to take up the challenge? Without love we are nothing. God bless…
Rolain.