Love is hard work (Part 1)
“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” (KJV) John 15:13
Love is kind, love is patient, love is long suffering and it keeps no record of wrong. Perhaps these are words you are familiar with yet we can all bear witness to the fact that it is easier said, heard or even read than done. According to Ravi Zacharias, the renowned Christian Apologist and Writer, love is the most used and abused epithet in human language. I cannot agree with him any better. Our human experience has taught us that our so called love is in most cases hypocritical and insincere. Even a mother’s love can break too soon.
True love is difficult to give and almost impossible to find. The fact that our love is mainly conditional makes one who seeks to love genuinely a fool in the eyes of society. “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13). This man is Jesus! He is the author of genuine love.
Brethren, it is only in the Lord that we can stay and continue in true love (John 15:9-10). Out of that context, our so called love will remain sensual and self – seeking as it is typical of the world. Come to think of it, just look at how relationship/dating has been secularized. Guys, if you truly love that lady you will not seek carnal knowledge of her and afterwards dump her. You will wait and help her to prepare adequately for life and honor her with a beautiful God certified marriage. Ladies, if you truly love him you will play your "gate – keeper" role very well and encourage him to do the honorable thing, instead of seducing him into seeking carnal knowledge of you. That certainly is not love!
Love is indeed hard work. It is not merely an abstract noun but it is a verb, a doing word. No one was born possessing the quality of love by default. It is a conscious effort.