Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. I Corinthians 13:13 (The Message)
This coming weekend there will be a flurry of activity around buying roses, jewelry, chocolates and mushy cards. If you received gifts, I trust you’re happy with them. If you did not, you still can be happy if you have love in your life. True love never dies because it comes from inside and thinks more about others. Love is about giving rather than receiving. It is less about an obligation and more about the privilege to express our trust in God through extravagant love for those closest to us.
What does extravagant love look like? The context of this chapter give us a picture of what true love is all about.
- Love never gives up.
- Love cares more for others than for self.
- Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.
- Love doesn’t strut.
- Love doesn’t have a swelled head.
- Love isn’t always “me first.”
- Love doesn’t fly off the handle.
- Love doesn’t keep score of the sins of others.
- Love takes pleasure in the flowering of truth.
- Love trusts God always.
- Love always looks for the best.
- Love never looks back, but keeps going to the end.
Which one of these dozen ‘love roses’ jumped out at you? Become a vessel of God’s love and share that love with those closest to you.
Dear Lord, thank You for Your love that is expressed in so many ways. We need You in our lives to love this way. With Your love we can offer those closest to us our extravagant, unconditional love. How can we do anything less when You have loved us this way? With Your truth we will make this our way of life. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Author, speaker, corporate trainer, ordained minister and Hope Catalyst, Karen Sebastian enjoys sharing her rich life experiences with others – engaging them in adventurous discoveries of the beauty of hope in a dark, cloudy world.
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