A Love that Lasts.

I long for love that lasts. Such love has many faces. Some of which I have seen in my own life lately. I would like to give you a glimpse of what I am talking about.

I love elderly people. There is so much about them that fascinates me. For example, their life stories surpass any story I could tell at this point in my life. They have seen the world go through drastic changes. They have experienced the trends, styles, technology, and music evolve. However, the thing that stands out most, in my mind, is their love. Now, I know this is a very general statement, and I am aware of the assumptions I am making, but it seems to me that people of very old age have seen a different side of "true love" than anyone in my generation has. Believe it or not, sex is not the priority of most elderly couples right now. Companionship is. Being alive is. It is often the case among the elderly that when one person dies the other partner doesn't live much longer. They simply CANNOT live without one another.

Another face of love: missions. There are so many hurting people in this world. Feeding them is love. Praying for them is love. Getting outside the "America is the greatest" box is a form of love for those who are not able to live the "American dream". The Bible says in Matthew 15:13, "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay his life down for his friends." Jesus died for ALL sin, for ALL people. True love is scarce in this world.

God is love. I think this is the big one for me right now. There is nothing that can separate us from the love of Christ. There is no greater sacrifice of love than God sending Jesus to save us from eternity in hell. Loving God is, in my mind the MOST important, and most meaningful love.

I feel like my generation has made the word "love" just another word. It is said too much in a romantic context, and not enough to the people at the end of their rope. We say, "I love movies. I love chocolate. I love things that are blue. I love you - so have sex with me." We have degraded the word to movies, food, preferences, and sex. What is REAL LOVE? What does it look like? Smell like? Does it FEEL or DECIDE or both? Do we mean it? So many questions.

The point is this: As Seven Day Jesus sang, "Everybody needs love." We need REAL love. Make your love mean something.