LOVE IN ACTION

1 John 3:18 “Dear children, let us stop just saying we love each other; let us really show it by our actions.”

Here’s a question. What is a legitimate measuring stick for true love? Can love be measured by gifts lavished upon someone? How about kind words? Some people feel most loved when their significant other spends lots of time with them. In fact, there is a well known theory that states that everyone has a “love language”. It is the way in which they are made to feel most loved. The truth is that no matter how often someone is told that they are loved, if their “love language” is not addressed, they will soon feel unloved. For all of us, love is more than a word.

A particular episode of the sitcom Friends offers a comical example of how far someone will go to express their love. Ross said some hurtful things to Rachel. Rachel was now punishing Ross by refusing to accompany him to a very special event in which he was the guest of honor. Ross begged and pleaded with Rachel to forgive him. He proclaimed that he loved her and that the event would just not be the same if she was not there. He asks the question, “What can I do to prove to you that I want you to be there?” For whatever reason, a glass filled with bacon grease was setting on the kitchen counter. Joey then suggests that Ross “drink the fat” in order to prove himself. Surprisingly Rachel agrees with that idea. Ross, determined to prove himself, reaches for the glass (not without some funny hesitation), and prepares to take a huge, disgusting gulp. Rachel stops him and says that she forgives him and will go to the banquet. She says, fighting back tears, “You were going to drink the fat.”

So, what’s the point? Words are just words when it comes to love. Love requires something from us. Christ offered mankind the supreme example of love. John 15:13 says “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends”. It isn’t always easy to do, but as Christians we ought to strive for our love to be real and impactful. Another version of our scripture says that we should love others in deed and truth. The ability to genuinely love others, and to show it, is gained in our knowledge of the truth of God’s love for us.

Let us make the commitment to allow our love for others to motivate us to great deeds. We have opportunity day after day to love our brothers, to give of ourselves, and to make a difference in the life of someone we know. True love moves us to compassion. True love moves us to meet the need of a disadvantaged person. Love does not allow us to sit by idle while someone else suffers.

I want to be driven by the love of Christ. I want to follow his example as he travelled the land feeding the hungry, healing the sick, and speaking kindness to the down trodden. I want to know the difference between religious “love” and Christ-like compassion. Take the opportunity to assess the impact that your love has had on others. Be sure that our love is not just heard but that it is powerfully felt by those we touch.