Love

I love my friends Geoff and Philip. They are always doing things that make me well up with fire on the inside, a fire of happiness. I find that when they do these things I want to let them know how thankful I am for their friendship, and how much I love them.

For instance, the other day Geoff was asked this question by another dear friend, "Is it possible to be too serious?" Geoff said, "I don't think anyone can ever be too serious." Now that is a beautiful response! I turned around, offered my hand to Geoff and said, "Now that's why I love you."

After I said it, in my mind I felt a hesitancy. That's why I love Geoff? That's not good. What if Geoff stops saying wise things like that? What if Geoff doesn't confront me on something even though it's hard in the future? Does my love for him diminish?

Or what about Philip? Philip is a brilliant, creative thinker that inspires me to create my own art. He challenges me in my walk with Christ in little ways every day. But is that why I love him? It shouldn't be. What if he stops doing those things?

I want to love my brothers in Christ not for what they do for me, but because Jesus loves them and Jesus loves me. Jesus loves these depraved sinners, whose hearts he sanctifies until we come to the other side of glory. I want to love them because the fruits of the Spirit show me what love truly is. I want to love them because Jesus loved me when I had done nothing to deserve it. In fact, I had done all that I could to push him away. He doesn't love me for what I do. He loves me because of who he is.

I want to love others because he loves me. That is the only thing that will never change.