Love people

Personal Photo: I cannot help but think that God's love works this way; that every act of love that we share, it is wrapped in the love of the Lord. God bless you all!

Happy holiday weekend! It feels strange that it is already September, but we are welcoming the cooler breezes and chillier nights. This time of year has always been one of my favorites and the beginning of a new month a refreshment. This week has not only been the wrap-up of August, but it actually ended up quite differently than we expected. On Wednesday morning, Clay woke me up in the early hours of the day to tell me he had just gotten off the phone with his parents, and that everyone was safe, but their house had caught fire just hours before. This tragic event shook me up to say the least; It always seems to be something you read about in the news, someone you do not know, an event that is hard to relate to because there is an inherent buffer of unfamiliarity and distance. All of a sudden it hit home. It could happen to anyone, it could have been way, way worse than it was, and it set us all on edge. Clay quickly abandoned work to go hug his family and we began thinking of ways we could help. The house was deemed a total loss, and the days since have been full of sorting through memories, prioritizing needs, and making difficult decisions about next steps.

On Wednesday morning I called my mom, talked through a potential plan for pets and living arrangements if they needed our support. During my time at work, I was surprised at the amount of coworkers that came to me asking questions, confirming that Clay's family was safe, and offering help. Numerous people offered spare bedrooms to them, almost all being strangers to his parents. Between my family, my work, and Clay's work, we began to see an outpouring of generosity. While Clay's parents are just beginning to navigate this journey, I am amazed to find a silver lining amongst the ashes with all of the support ranging from loved ones down to strangers.

On the same day, only a few hours later, my mom and dad passed a church marquee sign that read 'Love People, Not Things.' After the heartbreaking loss of everything in their home, along with the marquee referring to not focusing on the possessions we acquire in this life, it became clear that we can all use the reminder about what to prioritize. The short, simple phrase packed a punch. The world we live in tells us the exact opposite; in this technological age, we have become such large consumers of advertisements and biased media. Our brains have to process, analyze, and evaluate the value of each piece of media we consume, all of which are telling us that we need this thing to be happy, that the more lavish our consumerism is, the better liked we are, and that the size and aesthetic of our house, the brands of our items, and the more money we have, the happier we are. It is a lie. And falling in love with aesthetics, things, and brands can create a large gap between us and our Heavenly Father. We must remember that we are to love people, not things, just like the marquee says.

Love. Love is a word we hear thrown around a lot, and in our world, it has lost some of its meaning and value when it is applied incorrectly. How important should love be to us, and what does it even mean? 1 Corinthians 13:13 tells us "And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." In this verse, it directly tells us that love should come at the top of our priority list. Loving God, loving each other, loving what God does in us and for us, are all examples of how we can see and practice love in our day to day. Notice how I never mentioned anything you can put in your grocery cart, pay for, and unwrap. Love is not an order slip, a price tag, or a thing we wake up to find under our pillowcases. Loving things is not what this Corinthians verse is referring to. Rather it is talking about Godly love, which is a kind of love that is pleasing and representative of the Lord's love. In 1 Corinthians 13:4-8, which precedes the above verse in the Bible, we are given the explanation of what kind of love God is referencing: "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails." When we consider that this is how our Lord loves us, it is touching. These are all characteristics of a love that comes from within, that genuinely appreciates how much God loves us, and therefore we are to express the same kind of genuine love to those around us.

It is important to recognize that our understanding of love is very limited. It is a concept that is limited by our human nature, by what our brains can register. However, the love of God is so much greater, so much vaster than anything we could ever understand while we are on this Earth. Regardless, when we ask the question of why we should love others, why we should try and understand as much as we can about the love from our Lord, why we should not idolize our objects, we can reference 1 John 4:19. It reads "We love because he first loved us." The verse might be short, but there is a lot to unpack. We can only express this kind of affection because Jesus first expressed it to us. We are saved, and therefore can help save others. We are loved and therefore can share that love with others. The love of Christ is not something meant to be put on a shelf, picked up only when needed, but rather we are designed and called to love our neighbors, love our peers, and express that love through our actions and our words. John 13:34 could not be clearer when it states "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another." We are directly commanded to love. Here again we can see the influence from God. The source of our love, the ability to practice it comes directly from Him. In this way, we can see how God indirectly addresses the temptation of false love, of worldly love, when He references the way He loves us as the blueprint to how we should love others.

When we consider the danger of idolizing things, rather than focusing on the call from God to love others, it can be helpful to reference Matthew 6:24, which tells us "No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money." Money is a temptation that many of us face; there is never enough of it, society keeps raising the prices of basic living needs, and the desire to live a luxurious lifestyle is glorified at every turn. When we put God on the backburner, when we do not give any of our resources to spreading the light of the Lord, but instead think that we can do both, we are trying to serve two masters. When we become selfish with God's love and His blessings, when we fail to make time to practice His commandments, when we find ourselves prioritizing worldly possessions and worldly goals, we are trying to serve two masters. This Matthew verse is critical in understanding how we must keep an intimacy with Christ, how we must check in with our priorities and keep ourselves in line. God must come first, with all of His commands being at the top of the priority list. In this way, we can understand a bit better the importance of loving others.

This week was a challenging one, and trying to navigate uncharted waters quickly proved to be a chance to seek guidance from the Lord, to ask how best to express love. Clay's parents might have lost everything in the fire, but it serves as a reminder that no tragedy, no loss, no heartache, no thing can outweigh the love of the Lord that calls us to express that love to others. Family members, strangers, and friends all showed up to care, and that is why we are free with our love and generous with our kindness. God calls us to love our neighbors, not to feel the same about our possessions. We can lose our possessions in an instant, but people are of much greater value. It does not take a house fire to remember that we must not be selfish with God's love, but it has served as an opportunity to share His love with those around us, to express gratitude for those so willing to support, and to recognize that the Holy Spirit is working all of the time, even in times of distress and tragedy. Song of Solomon 8:6-7 tells us "Set me as a seal over your heart, as a seal upon your arm, for love is as strong as death, passionate love unrelenting as the grave. Its darts are darts of fire divine flame! Rushing waters can't quench love; rivers can't wash it away." Love is stronger than death, nothing can conquer it, my friends, and no matter what happens to us here on Earth, we always have the chance to seek God's love and to share that love with others!