A Light in the Window

Susan Hoyle, pastor Trinity United Methodist Church

February 14 is the official day of love. Oh, we know we don’t need an “official” day. But if you have ever forgotten Valentine’s Day and have received a rather cool response from a loved on, then you know it really is important and an official day! Love is that feeling that is so amazing and it’s also difficult to describe. But we sure know it when we feel it, don’t we? But love is more than a feeling, love is a way of life.

So how do we live a life of love? We begin with the Scripture in Mark 12:28-34. People have gathered around Jesus. Some of them want to see this person so many people are talking about. Others want to learn from him. Still others hope he will say something that goes against Jewish law so they can run him out of town. A man asks Jesus which commandment is the greatest. He responds with an important passage from Deuteronomy 6. “…you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and all of your strength. And love your neighbor as yourself.” Yes, love is more than a feeling, living a life of love includes all of who we are.

Offering ourselves to God completely, heart, soul, mind and strength is the beginning of love. Love for God is to be our foundational love, before others and before love of ourselves. It isn’t easy for us to love God. We may think God is out there somewhere. Yet God is as close as the next breath we take. Our sin and dark places may keep us from loving God. Yet, we learn to love God first because God loves us first. God has loved us before we even knew there was a God. God loves each one of us in spite of ourselves. When we put our love for God first, then we can love others and ourselves more fully.

After we love God first, then we are to love ourselves. That isn’t easy for all of us either. There may be voices from the past that tells us we are unlovable. Our sin may be a barrier that keeps us form loving ourselves. There are all kinds of reasons that we don’t love ourselves. Yet, when we remember that God loves us in spite of our sin, in spite of our darkness, we can begin to love ourselves. Why? Because if God can love us, just because, we honor God by loving ourselves.

Then we are to love others. Again, this isn’t always easy but when we live a life of love we go beyond our own biases, our own anger, our own resentments. We take that step beyond who we are into that risky place that God calls us to be. We love others even when it doesn’t make any sense to the world. We love others who the world sees as unlovable. We love others because we know Jesus loved us so much, Jesus gave Himself for you and for me.

Living a life of love is hard work. But as it becomes a part of our every day lives, it becomes a natural part of who we are. As we become a love offering to God, not only do we change, but so does the world around us. Now that’s what love is really all about…