Love, Redefined

I spent all night working on it.

Actually, I spent several days working on it; I just had to burn some midnight oil in order to finish it in time for my freshman year art class at Florida International University.

It was an “art book”. A 3D rendition of something that was important to me. I had decided to put together an illustrated manuscript of sorts of the thirteenth chapter of Paul’s first letter to the church in Corinth. I was going to truly make it 3D by incorporating various “pop-up” features surrounding the text that I painstakingly copied in calligraphy.

As usual, I had bitten off more than I could chew (if you’ve ever seen me eat, you’d understand this in a literal sense as Kathy often has to remind me to “BREATHE!” between bites).

It was very late, but I was thoroughly enjoying myself in my quiet dorm room that for the moment I had all to myself.

The theme was “Love”.

Love serves up such a contrast in our world. We live in a world that often seems devoid of it. Love breathes life into our lives because it is a brilliantly colored flower in a grey sea of melancholy.

You see, the opposite of love is not hate.

The opposite of love is indifference.

Indifference refuses to acknowledge anyone outside the scope of our narrow and selfish world-view.

In shame, I look back at this week (just this week!) and think of all the times that I was indifferent to people or their needs.

This is not the way that we were created to live. To love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, and to love our neighbor as we love ourselves.

What would we love for someone to do for us?

Who can we love in exactly that manner this week?

Joe

Vision Part 2 - Love Redefined
Love is the melody and chorus of this song. Taking the example set by Jesus, we focus on loving and serving people as they are and where they are; no strings attached. Our motivation is to love people simply because they are loved by God. Instead of trying to get people to come to church, we bring the church to the people. When we tell the good news by BEING the good news, we offer Jesus in person to a world that is weary of being tied to religion. Living our faith in this manner results in light invading darkness. We believe that the love of God is realized with every kind act, every addiction broken, every injustice made right and every truth proclaimed.

Related Verses
John 1:1-5
In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him. The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.

John 15:9-17
“I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me. You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name. This is my command: Love each other.

1 Corinthians 13
If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.

Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever! Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture! But when full understanding comes, these partial things will become useless.

When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. Now we see things imperfectly as in a cloudy mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.

Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.

NLTse