the iblog has relocated

Looks like I’ve gone big time! Lol, nah not really. I have relocated though! You can now find me at this address:

http://www.iblogmobile.info

Same great blog, easier to remember name.

What are you still doing here? Click the link already!

the meaning of love

- noun

1. a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person.
2. a feeling of warm personal attachment or deep affection, as for a parent, child, or friend.

- verb

1. to have love or affection for: All her pupils love her.
2. to have a profoundly tender, passionate affection for (another person).

Love. One of life’s greatest mysteries. Over the generations the word ‘love’ has come to mean many things; however, the top two definitions for love as a noun and a verb remain the same. Why is it that no matter how we define or use love it manages to persist in being defined as an emotion?

Don’t get me wrong. Love is most certainly part emotion, but is that all it is? I would challenge you this holiday season to realize that love is something much greater than an emotion. I see love this way:

John 3:16 (KJV)
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

How can I celebrate this Christmas without thinking about the one who made it possible for me to experience it? While we know he wasn’t born on December 25th, it is the day we have chosen to celebrate the birth of the one who came to die. It’s because the love of God that I am able to sit here in the comfort of my living room and write this post today. It’s because of that ultimate display of love that I am alive and well at this very moment. God loved us so much that he squeezed his infinite form and power into a vessel of flesh, and then not only experienced life from our point of view, but offered himself up to be abused and sacrificed that we might live.  That’s the meaning of love.

John 15:13 (KJV)
Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

Once again we see love as an action far surpassing emotion. The bible tells us that there is no greater display of love than to sacrifice yourself for your friend. Love is no mere emotion. Emotions fade with the moment; they can be influenced by the world around us. True love exists beyond the words “I love you”. It transcends your own desire for survival, and drives you to do whatever is necessary that others might live. That’s the meaning of love.

Ephesians 5:25
Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;

When I look into the beautiful blue/green eyes of my bride and tell her I love her, this is what comes to mind for me. I cannot say I love her, even in passing, and not fulfill this simple command. I stood before God and my loved ones and took vows that I will honor from here to eternity. How much should you love your wife? The scripture says we should love her as Christ loved the church. How much did Christ love the church exactly? We looked at that earlier. He loved us so much he died for us. He forgave us of those things we are most ashamed of in life. How imperative is it then that we extend this same level of love to the woman we pledge ourselves to? I would give everything I have to see that smile on her face… and would give my life if it would save hers. How could I not? That’s the meaning of love.

As you sit in the presence of those you love this Christmas, I hope this one blog post will drift to the top of the sea of information in your mind. Give thanks to the God that paid the ultimate price for your salvation, hug the neck of the friend that would follow you to the very end, and hold close the wife that you pledged your heart to.

God bless, and Merry Christmas.