Love is a verb

When I was a little girl I liked to read books about saints. This is probably because I went to a Catholic school. The books had an effect on me I wanted to be like the people I read about. I remember getting up to clean the kitchen when everyone had gone to bed because that's what a saint would do. I also would get up early and help Mother make lunches for everyone. That was no small job since there were nine children in my family. Of course sometimes I'd forget to put the meat in the sandwich and someone would get two slices of bread for lunch,oops.

What I learned from this was that often feelings followed actions. However, I was a teenage in the 1960's and the message was just the opposite. As a teenager I was bombarded with the message that love is a warm fuzzy feeling. I have to confess that these two opposing ideas of love have been somewhat like a tennis game in my life with the ball going back and forth from one side of the court to the other.

When I got married I remember having a conversation with my husband. He made a statement I thought was helpful. He said,"Love is a verb." This made since to me. When I read 1 Corinthians 13 I see what love does and doesn't do. When I read about God's love in John 3:16 I read God so loved the world he gave. In Jesus I see the one who came to seek and to saved the lost.

One time a man told me that part of his wedding vows were,"I promise to stay with you till love grows cold." If that had been my vow I would be long gone. My feeling of love can be as unstable as the weather in Georgia. The bases of my love has to come from the source of love. 1 John tells me that God is love. When I base my action on the source the feelings follow.

Lord Jesus, thank you for loving me. You are the manifestation of the love of God. Please let your love be manifested in my life as I choose to love others by my actions.