"Love", perhaps the most purposeful, powerful and penetrating word in any language. Attempting to define it or write about it couldn't even begin to be contained within a world with an infinite number of books. I know this to be true because Jesus (or God) is the full embodiment of love (cf. I John 4:8, 16), and if that's not only what He represents but also is, then the Bible says "... even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written" (John 21:25b) about all of the things Jesus did. And the word "love" carries so much significance across all cultures because it's universally accepted as one of the highest virtues of life. People do not come to possess this value on their own, but because they're valuing the very nature of their own creation in the image of the God who is love. Therefore, love has a way of crossing boundaries, breaking down barriers and building bonds like little else possibly could. And as a Christian, I possess the powerful influence of love in Him that can accomplish more than my mind could possibly contemplate.
God tells me that my love should look like something; in other words, it's defined to a certain degree. When people see it, they know it as love. Among other things, it should be without hypocrisy; it portrays something that's genuine and not masked. Love is never self-serving (cf. I Corinthians 13:5), and therefore my love needs to demonstrate sacrifice. The ultimate sacrifice would be that of death for another and thus the greatest demonstration of love without hypocrisy. (cf John 13:5) I probably won't be asked to lay down my life for another today, but I will certainly be asked to lay down many self-serving desires. I don't want to mask my love by drawing attention to myself, elevating my position with others or fulfilling my own personal needs, so I pray that my love would secretly put others ahead of me and thereby sincerely reflect the true love of Jesus I possess. After all, this is precisely what Jesus' love did for me.
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