LOVE

– 1 John 4:8

“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” – Matthew 22:36-40  (Jesus speaking)

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” – John 13:34-35  (Jesus speaking)

     As these Bible verses show, following Jesus is all about love. But hold on a second... what is love? Is it just a fuzzy feeling we get when we're around the person we like? Let's find out what the Bible says...

First, take a look at 1 Corinthians 13, well known as "The Love Chapter." Here is a lot of information about what love is. Right off the bat, the first three verses tell us that love is extremely important, and without love, everything we do is meaningless. Then the next couple verses say:

1. Love is patient.

2. Love is kind.

3. Love does not envy.

4. Love does not boast.

5. Love is not proud.

6. Love does not dishonor others.

7. Love is not self-seeking.

8. Love is not easily angered.

9. Love keeps no record of wrongs.

10. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.

11. Love always protects.

12. Love always trusts.

13. Love always hopes.

14. Love always perseveres.

     Wow, that's quite the list, eh? But there's a pattern here – I think it's clear that love is about putting others first.

Second, visit John 13:1-17. In this passage, Jesus washes His disciples' feet because of His deep love for them. Here Jesus demonstrates true, perfect love. Jesus was God! Yet He humbled himself, taking the job of the lowest servant. And He told us to do the same. In this passage, Jesus showed us that the opposite of love is selfishness. Without humbling ourselves and putting others first, we can't love properly. Love is about action, not mere feelings or rhetoric (1 John 3:18). Without acting out our love to the people around us, what's the point?

Third, read Galatians 5:19-23. Here we learn that true, pure love needs to follow God's plan. Otherwise, it's just a cheap imitation. Stuff like sexual immorality, jealousy and quarrelling have nothing to do with love. You can see a lot of this in the world today: instead of true, pure love, we find stuff that corrupts and perverts love, or simply goes against it altogether.
     For example, some people think they can have sex with as many people as they want, or with people of the same gender, or with young children. Others think it's okay to kill their unborn baby if he or she poses an inconvenience to them. Many people don't see any problem with treating someone as a mere sexual object, by lusting after friends and viewing pornography. In short, we find selfishness and hedonism – the complete opposites of love.
     I'm still trying to untangle the love and lust in my life. I'm still trying to fully understand what love means. I hope you'll join me in this quest for a deeper understanding of pure, true love. But in the meantime...

Follow God. Love. Change the world.

God Is Love Photo Source

The Worst (Preventable) Things Going on in the World Right NOW

Photo source

War –

Mexico's drug war: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-16337488

Pakistan-India Kashmir war: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10537286 and http://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/pk.html

LRA conflict in Uganda:
http://www.invisiblechildren.com/history-of-the-war

etc.

Child soldiers –
http://www.un.org/children/conflict/english/issues.html

Child abuse –
http://www.zebracentre.ca/facing-the-facts/

Extreme poverty and malnutrition –
http://www.wfp.org/hunger/stats

Often reinforced by racism – http://www.gfa.org/dalit/about-the-dalits/

Abortion –
http://www.campaignlifecoalition.com/index.php?p=Abortion
(a genocide of the unborn)

*****

         This short list is just a start... How can we just sit back and go on with our everyday lives, knowing that every day people are going through terrible things like these and dying unecessarly, when we could help them? I know I can't just sit back... because God has broken my heart for the broken in this world. I used to have lots of dreams and goals for my life – to get married to a beautiful girl, get a good writing job, become famous (most likely through my writing), buy a nice, cozy little house in some place like Hawaii, install a hot-tub, get a beagle... in short, to get a whole bunch of stuff for ME. It was all about ME, MYSELF, and I.
        Then just last year, God told me it isn't all about me. I am not the center of the universe. He told me to get rid of all my dreams and just surrender to Him. Of course, I didn't want to. But eventually God convinced me it was the best way to live my life to the fullest.
        So here I am... I know that some day I'll change the world. I hope that some day I'll be called to help people who are caught in the middle of war, to free child soldiers, to prevent child abuse and comfort its victims, to assist those who are starving in extreme poverty, to help end racism, and to put a stop to the genocide of the unborn.
        But for now, I'll just shine for Christ in my small 17-year-old life, help others when I can, and do my best to be a friend to those around me in the small town of Vegreville, Alberta.

Reflecting God

This beautiful picture of a mirror I got from ikea.com!

And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. - 2 Corinthians 3:18  NIV

    As a son of God, there are two main things I should do - reflect the Lord's glory, and be transformed into his likeness. I'm like a mirror... sadly, an imperfect mirror. But I'm always striving to be able to reflect God better, by getting rid of the sin and imperfection in my life that gets in the way of God's reflection. Reflecting God (which includes witnessing and missions) and becoming more like God are my two main jobs, which I can only accomplish through God and with his grace and power working in my life.
    But I always forget. I'm always am putting myself first, both consciously, when I blatantly sin, and unconsciously, when I pretend to be doing things for God but my motives are more self-centred. Of course, I can do everything through Christ who strengthens me (Philippians 4:13, my baptism verse), but I also cannot "bear good fruit" without Him (John 15:4). This reminds me of a great quote: "Don't try harder, trust God more!" I usually just try harder and try harder, and then get frustrated at myself when I don't achieve all my goals and don't live up to all my expectations. From now on I'll try to just trust God, and let Him transform me, because I know I can't transform myself.
    Which brings me to my final point - humility is very important. It's important because without God I'm nothing, and without humbleness I won't be able to reflect God well. I know that, but often live like it's not true - I often live like I'm number one, not God. Humbleness is not my strong point, but while I merely try to reflect God and become more like Him, hopefully I will improve in my personal humility.