March 2, 2016

“Love is not love that alters when it alteration finds…”

William Shakespeare (Sonnet 116)

Chuck Smith quoted that line three times in the sermon I listened to last night.

It was far from the first time I’ve heard it, (Jane Austen also quotes it in Sense and Sensibility) but it was the first time I really stopped to allow the beauty to take root in my heart. As I sat on my bed and thought about love, I was reminded of what my missions teacher, David Downs, said earlier that morning, that “love is intentionally burdened.”

Now, the reason David’s comment stuck in my brain was because we often hear how love is long suffering and willing to endure hardship, but we, or at least I, do not often think of the truth that love is not just willing to endure if suffering should happen to come along, but it goes out of its way to be burdened.   It is intentional and purposeful.

Jesus came to earth on purpose to intentionally endure the suffering of the cross because He loves us. His love caused Him to endure intense physical suffering, but even more than the physical suffering, He chose to take upon Himself the suffering of being separated from God the Father by the filth of my sin and yours.

So love.

It’s incredibly breathtaking and indescribably beautiful when it is founded in Jesus Christ.

Last night, these musings then turned toward myself, my heart and my actions. Am I loving? Do I intentionally burden myself so that others may be free of burden? Do I remain steadfast when others waver in their “love” for me? Am I long suffering, kind, humble, pure, truthful, dedicated? I can’t say that I am.

Which is why I am so excited about the fact that God chose to reveal all of these attributes of His love to me and to gently point out the areas where I lack. He loves me too much to allow me to remain unloving toward others and it amazes me to see His hand at work in these first few days of the semester.

Even more than that however, I am blessed to realize that the preparation for all of these thoughts about true love began at home weeks before I ever got here.

I am sure most of you have read, heard, or perhaps even memorized 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a,

“Love is long suffering, love is kind, love does not envy, love does not parade itself, is not puffed up. It does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil, Love does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.” (NKJV) [from memory so it might not be exactly word for word, please forgive me].

1 Corinthians 13:4-8a

A few weeks before I left for school the Lord laid this verse on my heart and showed me that true love, the kind of love we all dream about sharing with a husband or wife someday, is not as I typically imagine it. Love is a conscious choice to esteem the other more highly, to commit to them even when they aren’t committed to you, to do all of those things Paul lists in his letter to the Corinthians.

Love requires hard work, dedication, a gentle touch, a nurturing regard, a careful attention; it doesn’t happen to you, it is cultivated by you. 

This semester and on into the rest of my life, I choose to walk in love. I choose to follow Jesus’ example of selfless devotion to others regardless of their treatment of me in return because “love is not love that alters when it alteration finds”.

Love is not easy, but it is worth it because I want to reflect Christ in all of my relationships. I want to be long suffering and kind toward, free of envy, humble, amiable, selfless, patient, pure-minded, rejoicing in truth and frowning upon sin, bearing all things, believing all things, hoping all things, enduring all things; with Christ at the center. I want to cultivate a pure love that is glorifying to God because it is rooted and founded in Him, not my flesh.

I am excited to see how the Lord stretches and grows me in love so that every ministry I am involved in is defined by this unaltering, intentionally burdened, never failing love of Christ.

I pray that the Lord would use this entry to stir a desire in your heart to seek Him, that you may know and then imitate His love in your own life.

Abide in the vine, my friends because it is only through Him that we are able to bear, share, and enjoy the fruit of true love.