Love is Humanity

"Love is the fulfillment of everything that makes us human." (David Benner, Surrender to Love, p. 96).

"Love is who we are. Love is not, first and foremost, something we do." (p. 97)

"The point of being human is to learn love." (IBID)

"We are in the school of love." (IBID)

One of the blessing of being human is that we can love. Hopefully that balances that other human attribute - not being perfect! We fail. Thus, we need love.

Don't know love? Learn love. Now's the time.

"It is in loving (or not loving) that we are (or are not) human. It is in heeding the call of love - in making life-affirming connections - that we become human...Loving is not merely one thing among others that we are called to do - and extraordinary achievement, a heroic gesture that completes ordinary acts and raises them to a higher level. Love is not an additive, a spiritual supplement reserved for saints...Loving is the essence of being human, the connective tissue of reality, the oxygen of life." (David Benner in Surrender to Love, page 97, quoting James Olthuis from the The Beautiful Risk: A New Psychology of Loving and Being Loved, p. 69)

Learning Love

"Learning love is a journey back to the reality of the First Love...

Learning love is accepting the invitation to reclaim the truth of our belovedness...

Learning love is letting ourselves be loved fully...

There is nothing more important than learning love, because this is learning that counts for eternity."

(David Benner, Surrender to Love, p. 98)

But lest we think we should just be students of love, Benner points out, "Growth in love is not an accomplishment but the receipt of a gift." (p.100)

He concludes, "Learning to love is learning to live." (p. 101)

Great God - Great Lovers

"He [GOD] wants us to be known as great lovers because love is his way."

That's how David Benner tells it in Surrender to Love (page 90).

If "God is love" (I John 4:8,16) this only makes sense, that He would want us to lovers!

It's not our idea, it's His way.

What are you known for?

What should you be known for?

Love is a Yes and a No

"Love always involves not just saying yes to someone but also saying no to self." (David Benner, Surrender to Love, page 91)

There is a 'yes' to love, and a 'no' to love.

You say yes to one thing, and at the same time you are saying no to something else.

You can't choose to love one thing and not ignore another.

Love is a decision. It does make a choice.

Make a good choice today.

Say no to yourself today so you can say yes to someone else.

Love & Surrender

"Love is dangerous precisely because it invites surrender." (page 44, Surrender to Love, David Benner)

But he goes on to say, "Surrender to anything other than love would be idiocy." (page 59)

Love is a giving over to another. Love is a giving up.

Surrender is not something we should take lightly. Surrender should only be to something more important than us.

Love as Glue

"Love is the glue of connection." That's what David Benner called it (p. 12, Surrender to Love).

Thinking of love as glue is a great picture. I can get my fingers caught in glue! That's what I usually do. I use it to put pictures in the scrapbook. I use it to hold broken pieces together. I use it to hold things together that perhaps don't want to stay together on their own (like my shovel handle and shaft)! Glue is a wonderful thing to have handy. How much more is it to have glue in our relationships. Use some today!

Love as an acid test

"Love is the acid test of Christian spirituality." (David Benner, Surrender to Love, p. 90)

That's what David Benner thought and expressed in his book.

What do you think is the acid test of true Christianity?

Is it keeping the law, acting well, going to church, not sinning?

It's something to consider, and it's something to test in ourselves.

Love as the Pinnacle of Fulfillment

"The ability to love others is the pinnacle of fulfillment and health for all persons." (David Benner, Surrender to Love, p.13)

How you love matters. It matters here. It matters later.

Fulfillment and health - from love?

That's what one man, David Benner thought, what do you think?

Love is the strongest force in the universe

That's what David Benner claims in Surrender to Love, (p. 10):

LOVE IS THE STRONGEST FORCE IN THE UNIVERSE.

Just think of that, and know it is at your disposal.

You, my friend, can have the strongest force in the universe in your hands, in your heart.

It only depends what you do with it!

Love Changes Everything

"It is the experience of love that is transformational." (David Benner, Surrender to Love, p. 26)

Love transforms.

Love changes everything.

Want to change? Start loving.

Knowing God by Knowing Love

David Benner said, "If God is love, he cannot be truly known apart from love." (Surrender to Love, p. 28)

St. John of the Cross went even further by saying "that God refuses to be known except by love."

(Ibid)

Want to know God, know Love.

Know Love, discover God.

Love is the Antidote to Fear

Using I John 4:18 that says, "In love there can be no fear, but fear is driven out by perfect love: because to fear is to expect punishment, and anyone who is afraid is still imperfect in love." David Benner then concludes that love is "the antidote to fear." [page 43, Surrender to Love]

Apply love liberally today as needed, as prescribed by The Great Physician, to heal - to deliver - you from fear.

Love as Source & Fulfillment

"God's love is the source and fulfillment of all creation." (David Benner, Surrender to Love, page 22)

Benner goes on to quote Carl Jung on this subject: "It is the passion - the oxygen, the flame, the glue - fueling, firing, connecting the universe in its amazing array." (from Aspects of the Masculine, p. 59)

God is the Source.

Love is the fulfillment.

God & Love, hold it 'all' together.

Love Reaches Out

"Love, by its very nature, always reaches out." (David Benner, Surrender to Love, p. 20)

If you are not reaching out, you are failing to love.

Love reaches out. Love reaches out beyond itself.

Love extends. Love extends itself to others.

Who are you reaching out to?

Nothing Can Separate Us From God's Love

Romans 8:38 and 39 tells us that nothing can separate us from the love of God.

We can be separated from so many things and people so easily. Isn't it nice to know that nothing can separate us from the love of God - the most important thing!

Living in such a separated, if not divorced world, it's great to be reminded - NOTHING can separate us from the thing we need the most, the love of God. Let nothing deter you from the love you need, so you can supply the love so many desire.

Be careful to love

Joshua 23:11, "Therefore, take careful heed to yourselves, that you love the Lord your God."

Joshua said this in his farewell address when he was an older man. Before he said this, he said what we are more familiar with Joshua for saying, "Be very courageous..." (verse 6)

He went on to say, "fear the Lord, serve Him in sincerity and in truth (24:14), and "choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve (24:15), and "incline your heart to the Lord" (24:23).

When you string all of this together, you discover...

I need to be courageous. I need to be careful to love the Lord, to fear Him and serve in sincerity and truth. I have to make a choice, and to do this I need to incline my heart to Him.

I need to be careful. I need to love the Lord and it involves choices and inclinations.

What are you careful of today? What are you inclining your heart toward?

A Chinese Fortune Cookie That Keeps on Giving

After eating at a Chinese restaurant, we opened our fortune cookies.

Mine read: "Love is a present that can be given every single day you live."

Love is a present.

You can give it.

You never run out.

It never runs out.

While you live - LOVE!

Walking in Love

Ephesians 5:2 says, "Walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us..."

How are you walking in love?

Walking is a fluid movement. It is a motion. It is an action. It is a moving forward.

It really is a "stepping out." How is love being fluid motion in your life? How do your actions reveal love? How are you moving forward in love? How are you stepping out in love?

Conquering Through Love

Romans 8:37 says, "We are more than conquerors through Him who loved us."

First it says we were/are loved. Secondly it tells us we can conquer through that love.

That love is so compelling, we can conquer things.

What things do you need to conquer today ~ because you have been loved?

You are Loved

Psalm 91:14 says "He has set His love upon me."

Just ponder that a while today.

The God of the Universe, the Creator of all things, the Alpha & Omega, has set His love upon you.

It's pretty humbling.

It's awfully empowering and ennobling.

You are loved by the highest power and the greatest source.

Three Things We Need

I Timothy 1:5 tells us: "The purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience; and from sincere faith."

I noticed the triad:

a pure heart

a good conscience

a sincere faith

We don't get by with one facet. We need all three. We can't neglect one. One doesn't trump another. Lord, give us the Trinity of You, the Son, and the Holy Spirit ~ and the trinity of a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith...so we can fulfill Your command to love.

Love as Vitality

"All of the Law and the Prophets are summarized by a commandment to love God (spiritual vitality) and to love our neighbor (relational vitality). It's like two sides to the same coin...The strongest indicator that our love for God is pure and obedient is when it results in a more faithful and effective expression of love for others." (page 3, Leading Congregational Change Workbook)

I like how the writers boil all of life down to 2 spheres: spiritual and relational vitality.

Vitality, which is the life essence, is in our spirituality and in our relationship healthiness.

I like the law being summed up into spiritual vitality: Loving God; and relational vitality: Loving Others.

How healthy are you today?

Are you Abounding in Love?

Paul prayed in Philippians 1:9, "that your love may abound still more..."

And in II Thessalonians 1:3, he gave thanks that "the love of every one of you all abounds toward each other."

This made me think, if God is abounding in love (see July 8), why shouldn't we?

May Paul's prayer be heard today, that our love may abound more and more.

May we be able to give thanks when our love abounds more and more toward others.

God is Abounding in Love

Jonah described God as "abounding in love." (Jonah 4:2)

Lest we think it is only Jonah who described God this way, I found it also in Psalm 103:8 and 86:5,15; Nehemiah 9:17; Numbers 14:18; and Exodus 34:6. So, really from the beginning, God has been described as 'abounding in love.'

It makes me wonder what I abound with? Frustration, anxiety, apathy, bitterness....Hmmm. It is something to think about.

It also makes me wonder what I picture God abounding with? Anger, judgment, pity, requirements? Hmmm. I better correct my picture of God, and work on the picture others see of me!

First, Do No Harm

Physicians have a creed: "First, do no harm."

This should e our first goal as well: Don't harm the people around you.

But secondly, our goal should be to do good for those around us.

We can love by not harming, and we can love by doing good.

Be a physician today. Help heal someone around you.

What will you continue, and How?

I Timothy 2:15 says to 'continue in faith, love and holiness...'

Consider today how you can continue in faith, love and holiness.

I don't know what you're doing. I don't know what acts you will continue. Perhaps you need to change course so you can continue on the right track - in faith, in love, and in holiness.

It's your course. It's your choice. How will you continue?

It's a Privilege

"The second greatest privilege of a relationship with God is personal, profound communion with each other." (page 176, Dangerous Surrender, Kay Warren)

That sounds a lot like the second greatest commandment, after loving God, is loving one another.

"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law? Jesus replied: '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.' (Matthew 22:36-39)

After our personal relationship with the God of the Universe, our next privilege is relationship with another human being. Have one today.

Free to Love

FREEDOM DAY

I found 3 Scriptures outlining Freedom and 3 warnings:

Galatians 5:1 - It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.

II Cor 3:17 - Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

Ephesians 3:12-Through faith we may approach God with freedom and confidence

HOWEVER, be careful, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak (I Cor 8:9)

DO NOT use your freedom as a cover-up for evil. (I Peter 2:16)

BUT do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature, rather serve one another in love.

(Galatians 5:13)

In the end, it's always about loving and serving others. Freedom to love. You have it. What are you doing with it?

Love as a Way to Maturity

"Love is the way to maturity. Selfishness stunts growth and keeps in a spiritual playpen."

(Elisabeth Elliot, A Lamp Unto My Feet)

Kay Warren quotes this in her book, Dangerous Surrender, (page 37) as she starts her 2nd Chapter entitled, "The Kingdom of Me." The "Kingdom of Me," that puts a whole new spin on the way we think. It's all about us. And with maturity, as well as love, it's all about them.

Maturity is something desperately needed today, more than ever. Maturity says I do it for them. Maturity does what is best, for all concerned. I like Elisabeth Elliot's depiction of selfishness as stunted growth. Let us grow up. And in this growing up, may we love better.

Love & Hate Expose the Heart

"Love and hate are not so much opposites. They are passions that are contending with each other. Love and hate expose the heart. Apathy is the opposite of love and hate." (page 230, The Perfect Loss, Chris Dodd)

Do you feel contending passions in your heart?

Most people do.

Apathy is the absence of emotions. ('A' is without and 'pathos' is feeling)

Without feelings we are unattached to life and those around us.

Sort out your passions as they are exposed.

Weed out the bad ones, the ones filled with hate or bitterness.

Leave only the good ones, and live in those... love with those.

Stay True to Love

Chris Dodd calls us to "stay true to the God who is faithful in a fractured world; stay true to love." (page 189, The Perfect Loss)

He repeats a theme in the book, "life is tragic and God is faithful." (page 76,142,183,202,205,231,236, & 248)

We need to be encouraged to stay true and stay true to love.

It's a persevering. It's a faithfulness. It's a discipline.

It's an awakening. It's a drive.

The consequences of failing are devastating.

The rewards are endless and boundless.