“And friends are friends forever

If the Lord's the Lord of them

And a friend will not say never

'Cause the welcome will not end

Though it's hard to let you go

In the Father's hands we know

That a lifetime's not too long

To live as friends”

These lyrics by Michael W. Smith not only come from one of my favorite contemporary Christians songs (Friends), but also addresses one of the four types of biblical love - Philia (Greek - a brotherly or close friendship love).

Our greatest need is to be loved and our greatest gift is to love - “love God and love others.”   Sometimes we don’t even act or behave like we like one another, let alone love one another.  Jesus takes loving others a step further when He commands us to “love our enemies!” (cf. Matthew 5:44)  How do we do this?  Well, I can’t claim to have this love thing down perfectly, but I do know if Jesus has commanded us to do something He will equip us to accomplish it.  The Bible reminds us that God loves us, that is why He sent His Son.  And now Jesus lives and loves others through us via the miracle of the “new birth” (cf. John 3).

Jesus said “by this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35).  At the end of this life our bank accounts and possessions won’t matter, what will matter is the only thing that will truly last and carry on into eternity - loving God and loving others.   We are truly blessed when we learn how to love.  By the continued grace and mercy of God, I pray that Jesus will help me to know what it is to truly love others and manifest it, may this be your prayer too!

“Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought to love one another.” - 1 John 4:11

Happy Valentine’s Day!

 

In His Service,

Pastor Rodney