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Words From The Pastor . . . February 2012
“If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels … and if I have all faith … and if I give away all my possessions … but do not have love, I gain nothing. (from 1 Corinthians 13)
It’s the month of Valentine’s Day and the greeting card sections are very red, the color of love. That’s enough to get me thinking once again about the vision that we Christians have for living lives of love.
Romantic love, emphasized on February 14th, is, at its best, just one aspect of the greater view of love expressed in the scriptures. I often read from 1 Corinthians 13 at weddings. “The love chapter” is so traditional but so meaningful for me. It applies in our most intimate relationships just as much as it applies everywhere else in this world. Love, when it’s real, vulnerable, and genuinely self-giving, is so powerful!
Think about it, love is at the heart of the message of Christ (“love your neighbor as yourself”… just as you did it to one of the least of these … you did it to me”).
So, you might ask, if love is so powerful, why does there seem to be so little of it around? Well, no one ever said that the practice of Christ-like love was easy. There are so many barriers to the spread of love, even among us religious folk. Most of us have trouble giving or receiving love. We’ve been through the ringer too many times. We may not be doing too well with our self-esteem either and that is a barrier.
But since we’re in “the love month,” why not look at this again. If love really is what it’s all about, how might we grow in it? What needs to change within us in order for you and I to realize the power of love in our families and in our church life? And by the way, how does a church come to feel love for the strangers living around it? These are tough questions with no easy answers but worth pondering.
May we open ourselves to the love of Christ in the month of February, and do stay warm.
Blessings,
Pastor Jeff
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