All You Need Is Love by Mike Belgard

February 14, 2017 - Every day he came to the nursing home and sat. Every morning at the same time he would walk through the door, pass the nurses station and greet the nurses and staff with a "Good morning. What a beautiful day."

He would go down the hall, enter the room where his wife was lying in bed and greet her with a kiss.  She would stare blankly into space as if she never heard him. He would wrap a napkin around her neck and begin feeding her. He would tell her what the latest news was with the children and grandchildren. He would laugh out loud as he told the stories, but still she would just stare. Everyday, seven days a week, 365 days a year  the same routine. One day as he entered the building with his usual greetings to the staff, one of the orderlies asked, "Do you ever take a day off? You know she wouldn't know if you missed a day." He looked at the young man  and said, "Son I made a commitment to her over 60 years ago that I would never leave her. That I would love her and care for her until I died. Young man love is not just about saying, its about doing."

Love is probably one of the most used, but most misinterpreted words in the English language.  Love is not just a word or emotion to describe something that we like, its the very essence of human existence.  Without love the world would disintegrate into chaos. However, when true unconditional love is applied to any situation it will transform that situation into a picture of God himself. 1 John 4: 7-8 says: "Beloved let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love."

The first fruit of the Spirit mentioned is love. It is not coincidence that it is first. Without love,  nothing else we do really matters to God. In 1 Corinthians 13 Paul tells us of the importance of doing all things for love.  "And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing." You see when we are filled with the Spirit, love becomes the motivation for everything we do. There are so many people who think that being a "christian" is about showing up for church, teaching Sunday school, going on mission trips to far away places, or making a public display standing for a religious cause. These are great things to do, but if you do them just to receive accolades from the world not because you have a true love for the people that you are doing it for, you have missed the point. Demonstrating Gods love for people so that they may see Him through you should be your only motivation. Just as Gods love for us is without limits or boundaries, so should our love for others be.    Romans 5:8 "But God demonstrates His own love for us that while we were still sinners Christ died for us." You see God loves you without conditions. He loves you right where your at. You don't have to be good enough before he'll love you. Jesus died for you while you were still lost. I am so thankful He didn't say," I'm going to wait until Mike gets good enough before I show him my love." But instead He said, "I'm going to show Mike how much I love him by dying on the cross for him even though he doesn't love me or know me right now." You could be the worst person in the world or the best and he loves you the same.  Love is just what God does.

Paul goes on to tell us what true love really looks like. "Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things. Love never fails." (1 Cor 13: 4-8) True love always behaves like that passage. Husbands, can you say that your wives use these traits to describe how you treat her? Wives, what about loving your husbands this way. This is the kind of love God has for you.  We should all reflect His love and rest in His love.

I'm Just Sayin'
Mike Belgard