JUST BECAUSE

Psalms 116:5 “The Lord is gracious and righteous; our God is full of compassion.”

Love is a wonderful thing. It amplifies the virtues and discounts the faults. For instance, through my eyes, my wife’s natural beauty is enhanced because of my love for her. So it is with her intelligence, wit, talents and numerous other virtues and graces. And while I am sure that she has faults (after all she is human like all of us), I am hard-pressed to notice them. That is the magic of love.

Love is patient and kind, not jealous, not boastful, not proud. Love is not rude, not selfish, not easily angered. Love keeps no record of wrongs, does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things.

This could not be seen more clearly than in the love of a mother for her child. A little girl was asked, "Who does your mommy love most?" The little girl replied without thinking, "She loves Johnny most because he’s the oldest...and she loves Billy most because he’s the youngest...and she loves me most because I’m the only girl."

Another effect of heartfelt love is that it prompts us to praise the object of our affections. I am never at a loss to talk about my wife or my children. The question we must ask ourselves is, "Does our love for Jesus Christ manifest itself in these manners?" Does our love find its voice in songs of praise and worship? Do we love the Lord? Why?

Let me give you three good reasons….

First, he loved me before I knew him. It is easy to love someone when you know that they love you. The Lord loved me before I knew that I needed his love. "But God commends his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Before I was ever born God knew that I would be a sinner...and he knew that if he didn’t love, if he didn’t care for me, if he didn’t do something to help me...I would die and be lost. God loved me too much to let that happen. "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life." Now, God wouldn’t force me to love him; but, in return for the love he offered me, if I would let him love me and if I would accept his love, he offered to adopt me as his own child. "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God."

Second, he hears me when I call on him. They say that it is easier to bear your troubles if you can share them with someone else. Have you ever felt like you just needed to talk to someone? But most of the time you can’t find someone who is really interested in your problems and certainly no one who can take your problem for you. But God not only listens when I tell him my problems, but he actually does something about them.

Third, he is my strength. I can not be strong all the time. I cannot be totally self-sufficient. I am a man of many weaknesses and sins. If it were not for God I would soon be loaded down with the cares of this world. But when I am weak, God gives me his grace and it is completely sufficient for all these things.

If you ever get to the point that it seems as if your passion is waning and your love for God is not as strong as it ought to be – think about these things. They are true for me and they are true for you. Let your knowledge of this truth stir your heart towards him. You won't look at God the same way and your love will be renewed....just because.