So, that's why...

"Love your enemies, for they tell you your faults."
Poor Richard (aka, Benjamin Franklin)

Ever Heard of a "Love Mob"?

This was a response to the killing of children in Newtown, Connecticut.
This is the reaction we need for our culture filled with hate.

The Essence of Who We Are: LOVE

I read an interview by Marci Shimoff who co-authored some of the best selling Chicken Soup for the Soul books.  She said, "Love is actually the essence of who we are, and when we live in a state of unconditional love, what [she] call[ed]  'love for no reason,' we experience our essence that is love, which doesn't depend on another person, situation or romantic partner.  It is the core of every spiritual tradition."  

Peek-A-Boo

There is a Semitic saying:  What you love reveals who you are.

What is your love revealing about you?

Silence, Stillness, can bring good things...even love

Let Them be Them

Thomas Merton well said:
"The beginning of love is to let those we love be perfectly themselves,
and not to twist them to fit our own image.
Otherwise we love only the reflection of ourselves we find in them."
[from No Man is an Island]

Love What is Good

Three times in the Bible it teaches us, reminds us, encourages us to...
LOVE WHAT IS GOOD.
Amos 5:15; Romans 12:9; and Titus 1:8

It is a good reminder for us today:  Love what is good.  Opposite inference:  Don't love what is not good.  Concentrate on the good.  Look for the good.  Appreciate the good.  

Participate with Faith, Hope, and Love

"It is a gift of participation in the very life of God.  Its inherent character is best described by three overlapping characteristics:  faith, hope and love.  We rightly called them the supernatural virtues because they were a "participation in the very life of God" as opposed to a natural talent."  (p. 117, Richard Rohr, Jesus' Plan for a New World)

Somethings are natural, somethings are not.
Supernatural is not natural.  It's about nature.  It's from God.
When I read Rohr's words, "participation in the very life of God," I was struck by the awesomeness of that.  We can participate with God when we participate with faith, hope, and love.  Why don't we participate with it more?  

Broaden your Borders to Love

"Jesus says a forgiven person will know how to love."
 (p. 92, Richard Rohr, Jesus' Plan for a New World)

That's Biblical.  Is it real in your life?  The more you can forgive, the greater your capacity to love.
And, who doesn't need capacity to love when it's hard, when there is a reason not to, when you don't feel you have in it.  You don't!  But, God can.  Rely on Him to forgive through your submission to His will and way.  Forgiving creates greater love.  Forgiving looks beyond.  It looks to God.

Once you've been forgiven, you will want others to know and experience the same.
There's nothing more humbling, and no greater reason to be grateful, than forgiveness.

2 different worlds

Franciscan Monk, Richard Rohr, writes in his book about the Sermon on the Mount:

"Remember this:  There are always two worlds.   The world as it operates is power; the world as it should be is love.  The secret of Kingdom life is how can you live in both - simultaneously.The world as it is will always be built on power, ego, and success.  Yet we also must keep our eyes intently on the world as it should be - what Jesus calls the Reign of God.  Power apart from love leads to brutality; but love that does not engage with power is mere sentimentality.  A lot of Christians today are still trapped in one or the other."  (page 41)

Vast Love

Psalm 36:5

    Your unfailing love, OLord, is as vast as the heavens;
             your faithfulness reaches beyond the clouds.

Loving & Giving

"You can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving."

~Amy Carmichael

Perhaps that explains why a young lady of Ireland goes to India and founds an orphanage.

Loving & Grieving

Mary Neal, in her book, To Heaven and Back, tells of some sage advice offered to her while she was grieving the loss of her son:

"When you love with all that you have,
  you grieve with all that you are."

I find those words to be true.  Loving entails grieving because we have loved well, deeply.  As Jesus said to Mary who cried tears (Luke 7:38) and washed his feet ... "for she loved much."  (Luke 7:47)
The Bible describes her as a "sinner."  She may well have been a sinner, but I also see she was a griever.  Perhaps her grief was over her sin, or perhaps over losing someone or something she loved very deeply.  Whatever our grief, it pains us.  So let that remind you of something good:  You cared enough and you loved deeply.  

In the Name of Love

Singer and songwriter Carole King, was inspired by the death of a young man, Willie, as told by his Mother, Mary in To Heaven and Back.   She composed a song in his tribute:  In the Name of Love.
Listen to it and see if it inspires you of the cycle of life and the purpose of love.

Doing things in the spirit of love

"You will find as you look back upon your life

that the moments when you have really lived,

are the moments when you have done things 

in a spirit of love."

Henry Drummond

Choosing - Reacting

I'm reading Dr. Mary Neal's book, To Heaven and Back.  She describes an elevator operator in the hospital in which she worked.  She was impressed with her great attitude and one day simply asked her how she did it.  Here is how she writes it:  "She told me that her joy and strength came from the Lord.  She knew the only part of life she could control was her reaction to it, so she chose to react with love."

That's a good reminder for us to CHOOSE to REACT with LOVE.

Not too much...and Not weak

Dave Matthews sings 2 songs on his latest album, 'Away from the World', that have to do with love.

One song is 'Belly Belly Nice.'  He sings:  "Can't get too much love."
The other song is 'Mercy', where he sings:  "Love is not a whisper or a weakness.  No, love is strong."

I like the idea of not ever being able to get too much love; and that love is not weak, love is strong.
Ponder these ideas, or sing his songs!

The Art of Receiving

"So many of My children limp through their lives starved for Love, because they haven't learned the art of receiving."  (p. 283, Jesus Calling, Sarah Young)

We must learn to not only give love, but also to receive it.
Receiving is a discipline as well as giving.
Maybe the reason you do not have love, or feel love, is because you are not open to receive it.
Discipline yourself to receive, as well as to give.

Love Overcomes Fear

As I listened to Gary Haugen address a crowd in Nashville, Tennessee, for his wonderful group, International Justice Mission, his words hit me.  He explained to do the work he does to help free people from oppression, you need a "love that overcomes fear."  The people he liberates live in fear.
The people working to free them, need a love that overcomes not only their fears, but also the people they are working for.  It takes love to overcome fear to propel us to action.  He explained, "Love doesn't make sense...it is disproportionate and tedious."   It takes work to show love for people who don't even know there is a way, there is hope.  It takes us coming out of our comfort to help them be comfortable.  Thank you not only for your words Gary, but also your works.  

The Book of Love

"The book of love is long and boring..." that's what it says...

Love is Energy

"Love is energy of life." So said Robert Browning.

Let love energize your life for what is important, not insignificant.

Let love give you energy to do your greatest works yet, think your finest thoughts, perform your most heroic deeds.

Let your heart swell with love as it generates new forms of energy for living and loving.

Balance

"Zeal for the truth must be balanced by love for people. Truth without love has no decency; it's just brutality. On the other hand, love without truth has no character; it's just hypocrisy. So says John MacArthur in Twelve Ordinary Men. He goes on to say, "their lack of love cripples the power of the truth they profess..." He says, "If you pursue anything in the spiritual realm, pursue a perfect balance of truth and love. Know the truth and uphold it in love." He explains, "this balance of truth and love as the very pinnacle of spiritual maturity." He concludes, "love is what real truth is ultimately all about." (p. 106, 107)

God's Storehouse Outpouring

"Love is the bounty of God's inexhaustible storehouse,

and you are an expression of God's love in the world."

-Christian Ian Chenoweth

Maximum Capacity Loving

John MacArthur teaches us about Peter in Twelve Ordinary Men, "In 1 Peter 4:8 he [Peter] wrote, "Above all things have fervent love for one another, for 'love will cover a multitude of sins.'" The Greek word translated "fervent" in that verse is ektenes,literally meaning "stretched to the limit." Peter was urging us to love to the maximum of our capacity. The love he spoke of is not about a feeling. It's not about how we respond to people who are naturally lovable. It's about a love that covers and compensates for others' failures and weaknesses: "Love will cover a multitude of sines." (p.55)

Leading with Love

John MacArthur in writing his book, Twelve Ordinary Men, wrote about the qualities of leadership: "True spiritual leadership means loving service to one another." He explains, "Leaders are usually task-oriented people rather than people-oriented. And so they often use people, or plow over people, in order to achieve their goals." He concluded. "The true leader loves and serves those whom He leads." (p. 52,53)

Don't Waste Love

"I don't want to waste our love."

Lord, this is my prayer: Don't let me waste the love I've been given nor the love I give.

I can give you love, and you can waste it, let it pour out on the side.

You can give me love, but I can leave it there and not pick it up or use it, or enjoy it.

Just as we can squander money, or dawdle with our time, love can be wasted too.

Don't let it happen to you.

Wired For Love

Caroline Leaf, a brain researcher, has written a book that caught my attention: Who Switched Off My Brain. She has some interesting quotes on our love and our thinking processes:

It is often said that forgiveness leads to the ability to love...

Scientific research proves that love is good for your health.

We are wired for love.

(page 160 and 173-ebook version)

Love, Transformation, Vulnerability, & Healing

David Benner exclaimed in his book, Surrender to Love, "The single most important thing I have learned in over thirty years of study of how love produces healing is that love is transformational only when it is received in vulnerability." (p. 76)

He further said, "Genuine transformation requires vulnerability." (ibid)

He reminds us of the risk we experience by allowing ourselves "to be loved unconditionally." (ibid)

Learning- Loving - Living

David Benner wraps up his book, Surrender to Love, with concluding: ""Learning to love is learning to live." (p.101)

He has already said, "There is nothing more important than learning love." (p. 98)

Now he ties learning - love - and life together in a present.

Loving helps us live more fully. Loving brings 'presentness' to life. You are present (engaged, interacting) with your reality and those around you, and it is a present (gift) that you have love in your life.

I want to live, so I must not lose the lesson(s) of love.

Ephesians 3:19- to know this love...so you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Or as The Message version says, "Live full lives, full in the fullness of God."

Today, remember to live and love

"We live, we love..."
"Today we remember to live and love..."

Nothing More Important to Learn than Love

"There is nothing more important than learning love, because this is learning that counts for eternity...Learning to love is therefore the core task of the human psychospiritual journey."

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

Nothing more important.

Something that counts for eternity.

The core task of our journey.

Something we better do!

The Acid Test

David Benner tells it well in his book, Surrender to Love, "Love always contains sparks of divine presence." He explains, "This is why genuine love always calls us to deeper places of trust and connection." (p. 84)

He expounds, "Love is the acid test of Christian spirituality. If Christian conversion is authentic, we are in a process of becoming more loving. If we are not becoming more loving, something is seriously wrong." (p. 90)

Take the acid test today.

Love the way they hold you

Jamie Grace sings this with tobyMac. A love ballad for you today. Be encouraged. Be loved. Be blessed.

Lens of Love

"Look at other people through lenses of Love..." (p. 168, Jesus Calling, Sarah Young)

Put on your right glasses today. Put on your lenses of love. Look at the world and others through that, not your own pretty blue or green lens.

You know how "reader" glasses help us see things more clearly.

Well, lenses of love will help us see more lovingly.

What matters in the End?

Have you seen the list that supposedly a 90 year old wrote with 42 lessons from life?

Today I noticed #35: "All that truly matters in the end is that you loved."

Dreams for Love - It's good for the Brain!

I'm reading, Who Swtiched Off My Brain, and then the author, Caroline Leaf, asserts: "Write your dreams for love..." (ebook version, p. 204)

Think of that, a doctor in brain science, telling us to journal our dreams for love.

It's scientific from the brain, and it's good for the heart too!

Make your dreams of love more concrete by writing them down.

Love is Exotic

The famous English preacher C.H. Spurgeon said, "Love is an exotic; it is not a plant which will flourish naturally in human soil, it must be watered from above...Love must be fed on love. The very soul and life of our love to God is His love to us.

I love Thee, Lord, but with no love of mine,

For I have none to give;

I love Thee, Lord; but all the love is Thine,

For by Thy love I live.

I am nothing, and rejoice to be

Emptied, and lost, and swallowed up in Thee."

(Morning & Evening Daily Readings, June 11)

Sing: Love Like I'm Not Afraid

Chris Tomlin sings it great.  Be the way you were made:  Love without fear!

Love is a Thread

Confucianism saying:

"Loving kindness is the one maxim which ought to be acted upon throughout one's life."

Islamic tenet:

"Not one of you is a believer until you wish to everyone what you love for yourself."

So, why can't we all get along. We all believe in love.

His Love rather than yours

"Learn to relate to others through My Love rather than yours...

Let my Love envelop your outreach to other people."

(p. 139, Jesus Calling, Sarah Young)

Love Personified

"The story of Jesus is the story of love personified. We miss the point when we simply try to do what he tells us to do. And we miss the point when we merely try to follow the pattern of his life. His life points us back to the his own Source. His life is intelligible only when it is understood as the personification of divine love...genuinely encountering Love is not the same as inviting Jesus into your heart, joining or attending a church, or doing what Jesus commands. It is the experience of love that is transformational...Jesus came to lead us back to Love. He came to play the central role in the world's greatest love story...He was the Son of Love who came to show us the love that is our destiny, our healing and our fulfillment."

(p. 25,26,27, David Benner, Surrender to Love)

Despoiled Love

"All of us live with love despoiled. It appears to be the best we can experience and the best we can give. The love we receive from others is always limited by their brokenness and finitude. And the love we give to others is always contaminated by our self-preoccupation. We long for perfect love but easily become discouraged about the possibility of ever deeply experiencing it."

(p. 24, Surrender to Love, David Benner)

Love Pervades Every Aspect

"God's bias toward us is strong, persistent and positive. The Christian God chooses to be known as Love, and that love pervades every aspect of God's relationship with us."

p. 16

David Benner

Surrender to Love

The First Step in becoming great lovers

"There is nothing more important in life than learning to love and be loved...

And it is about knowing ourselves to be deeply loved by God as the first step in becoming genuinely great lovers of others and God...Love invites surrender, and surrender is at the core of spirituality...Love speaks the language of the soul."

p. 11

David G. Benner

Surrender to Love

Love by Choice

My New Spirit Filled Life Bible says in a footnote on page 1439, referring to Matthew 5:43-48 and Luke 6:27,28,32-36: "Love by choice, not by circumstance."

If we are to love our enemies, and even bless them, and do good to/for them, and pray for them, this will be a huge choice we make. Circumstances will not lead us there.

If there is no incentive or reward for loving others, then circumstances will not compel us to love. It must be a choice that you choose now, not later, not due to circumstances or rewards.

Life is all about choices. Make them good.

"But only one thing is needed and Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her." Luke 10:42

Laws of Logic & Arithmetic

"By all the laws both of logic and simple arithmetic, to give your self away in love to another would seem to mean that you end up with less of yourself left than you had to begin with. But the miracle is that just the reverse is true...To give yourself away in love to somebody else --- is to become for the first time yourself fully...is in a new way to come fully alive..."

(p. 161, 162, Listening to Your Life, Frederick Buechner)

To be Holy & Human

"Make us holy and human at last that we may do the work of thy love."

p. 157

Listening to Your Life

Frederick Buechner

Another Way of Looking at it...

"Another way of saying Love your neighbor as yourself is to say Love yourself as your neighbor. That doesn't mean your pulse is supposed to quicken every time you look in the mirror any more than it's supposed to quicken every time your neighbor passes the window. It means simply that the ability to work for your own good despite all the less than admirable things you know about yourself is closely related to the ability to work for your neighbor's good despite all the less than admirable things you know about him. It also means that just as in this sense love of self and love of neighbor go hand in hand, so do dislike of self and dislike of neighbor. For example (a) the more I dislike my neighbor, the more I'm apt to dislike myself for disliking him and him for making me dislike myself and so on, and (b) I am continually tempted to take out on my neighbor the dislike I feel for myself, just the way if I crack my head on a low door I'm very apt to kick the first cat, child, or chair unlucky enough to catch my bloodshot eye."

Frederick Buechner

Listening to Your Life

p. 182

Through Eyes of Love

David Benner in his book The Gift of Being Yourself, is trying to convey the love of God for His people.
He exclaims, "God cannot help seeing you through eyes of love."  (p. 49)
He explains, "Divine love is absolutely unconditional, unlimited and unimaginable.  (ibid)
He expounds, "Our being is grounded in God's love."  (ibid)
He elaborates, "The inextinguishable love of God is the only hope for our fulfillment.  Love is our identity and our calling, for we are children of Love.  Created from love, of love and for love,
our existence make no sense apart from Divine Love....it must become the basis for our identity...when we think of who we are, the first thing that would come to mind is our status as someone who is deeply loved by God."  (ibid)

Acting Accordingly

Thomas Merton wrote, "We must know the truth, we must love the truth we know and we must act according to measure of our love.  Truth is God himself who cannot be known apart from love and cannot be loved apart from surrender to his will."   (p. 8, The Ascent to Truth)

Acting according to the measure of love in you?
Does that scare you?
Don't worry, it's not your love but His that we need.
Act according to the love He has poured out into you.
If we act according to ours, we will be found short, and they will be shortchanged.  

Awakening to Intentional Love

Dr. David Benner writes eloquently about the intentional way we need to love to awaken us from our mundane lives.  Here is an excerpt from his blog:

http://www.drdavidgbenner.ca/test-post/

He calls us to live above the slumber of lazy living and loving into the fullness of life and relationship.

Know God through Love

"Because God is love, God can only be known through love.  To know God is to love God, and to love God is to know God (1 John 4:7-8)."  (p. 35, The Gift of Being Yourself, David Benner)

This sounds like the bumper sticker:  Know God - Know Love.  No God - No Love.

LOVE, BLESS, PRAY, GIVE

In Luke 6 after Jesus gives his "Blessed are..." and "Woe to..."
He concludes with "But I say to you who hear:  LOVE...BLESS...PRAY...GIVE... (verses 27, 28, 30)

If only we could remember that small little advice.
Everyday, try to call to mind to Love, Bless, Pray, and Give.

If we keep this advice, we will be better people, and those around us will be as well.

The Centrality of Love Amidst our Community

Sam Storms writes in his book, The Hope of Glory:  "There's simply no escaping the centrality of love in the community of God's people."  (p. 271)
He is quoting Colossians 3:14 where it concludes:  "...put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony."
He explains that 'perfect harmony' conveys the meaning of maturity or completeness.
He expounds that Paul is saying "that love is the grace or power that holds all the others [virtues] together."  He calls it "spiritual lubricant', 'glue that unites....', and 'the mortar that holds...'
He concludes, "it isn't so much the virtues of individual Christians" that bind us together as unique and different as we are, but it is the power of the affection that does! (p. 272, 273)

A Worthy Saying

"Love without ceasing.
Give without measure.
Who can exhaust God's limitless treasure?"
~Malcolm Schloss

Extremist for Love

Martin Luther King, Jr. said in writing from the Birmingham jail (April 16, 1963):

"So the question is not whether we will be extremist but what kind of extremist will we be. Will we be extremists for hate or will we be extremists for love?"

It's extreme to love. If you are going to be an extremist for anything, the best thing to be extreme for is LOVE. Let that be the only accusation "they" can level at you.

Divine Encounters

The Pastor said, "Let the Jesus in me love the Jesus in you, and let the Jesus in you love the Jesus in me."

How simple if we would remember that.

Look for a bit of the Divine in everyone you encounter. It's there. Are you looking?

Toby Mac singing "Made To Love"

It's good to remember: We were made to love!

Wrath as a Function of Love

"Indeed, one may speak of divine wrath as a function of divine love. For God's wrath is his love for holiness and truth and justice. It is because God passionately loves purity and peace and perfection that he reacts angrily toward anything and anyone who defiles them." (p. 239, The Hope of Glory, Sam Storms)

We forget love implies wrath toward anything going against that love.

Love is so strong. Love's desire is only for the best. It fights for what is best!

Problems with loving

I know there are problems within me. You probably know the problems in you.

We both have them. We both need help. Why can't we accept this as we continue down our paths of trying to love each other - as ourself.

I think the difficulty I have in loving my neighbor may be at it's source, the problem I have in loving myself.

I have to get over me, to be able to love and accept them.

Accepting & Loving

Do you think the problems with loving are at it's root the same as accepting?

If I have problems accepting myself, and thus others, I certainly will have problems loving them.

Accepting them as they are, can lead to loving them where they are.

Can we not even take the first step? Accept, and move toward love.

Worthy of Love

Mark Nepo ask us to have "the faith to believe that each of us is worthy of love, just as we are." (p. 93, The Book of Awakening)

He later ask us to "imagine them loving you if you did nothing. Imagine yourself loving yourself if you did nothing." (p. 94 ibid)

That's a hard reach for most of us. We can't imagine a God who truly loves, much less people loving us-if they know us! Then to even fathom loving ourselves in spite of who we know we are as well. Accepting is one step, loving is a leap...

Love Their Love - Inspire By Yours

Wendy Williams Show featured a segment called, "I Love Their Love." She highlights peoples love relationship. She tells how their love relationship inspires her. She wants us to be encouraged to also live love relationships that inspire those around us. Take her cue, let your love relationships spur others to reflect the same kind of genuine care and delight in their relationships.

Oh to put it all together

The adventure of life is to learn. The purpose of life is to grow. The nature of life is to change. The challenge of life is to overcome. The essence of life is to care. The opportunity of life is to serve. The secret of life is to dare. The spice of life is to befriend. The beauty of life is to give. The joy of life is to love. ~William Arthur Ward

Solving the World's Problems

My husband said today: "Is there not any problem in this world, that loving your neighbor would not remedy?"

Think about that! If we all loved our neighbor, we'd have no robberies, no murders, no slander, no...need I go on.

It's a powerful thought: Jesus gave us all we need to make this world a better place - and us better citizens.

Love = Energy

"Love is energy of life." Robert Browning, the English poet (1812-1889) may have penned this after he met the love of his life, Elizabeth Barrett Browning.

Not Loving Can Be Deadly - to ourselves

"He who does not love abides in death." I John 3:14.

"Notice that he did not say, "he who hates," but simply, "he who does not love."

The mere absence of love is deadly...

Notice also that he did not say, "he who is not loved," ... our purpose cannot be to get others to love us." The author concludes: "Our purpose must then be to become one who loves...

Love is not a feeling...it is the divine way of relating to others and oneself..."

(p. 520, 521-ebook, Renovation of the Heart, Dallas Willard)

One Definition of Love

"...What exactly is love? It is will to good or "benevolence." We love something or someone when we promote its good for its own sake. Love's contrary is malice, and its simple absence is indifference. Its normal accompaniment is delight..." (p. 186 (ebook version) Renovation of the Heart, by Dallas Willard)

Smiling & Loving

"Everytime you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing."

~Mother Teresa

Ahhh, remember her smile? Make your smile a gift of love to all who see, even you inside it!

Direction & Alignment of Love

"Only love of God frames and supports love of neighbor, giving it right direction and the power to carry out its aim of goodness within the kingdom. And love of God neighbor gradually pulls the entire structure of the person into proper alignment." (p. 70,71, Renovation of the Heart, Dallas Willard)

What love and effort can do

Here is a story captured on video of a Father's love for their child. Be encouraged today of how you could love someone so fully to bring about their potential.

www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=9xwCG0Ey2Mg

Transformation & Love

"Love, we hear, is patient and kind (I Cor 13:4). Then we mistakenly try to be loving by acting patiently and kindly - and quickly fail. We should always do the best we can in action, of course; but little progress is to be made in that arena until we advance in love itself - the genuine inner readiness and longing to secure the good of others. Until we make significant progress there, our patience and kindness will be shallow and short-lived at best.

It is love itself - not loving behavior, or even the wish or intent to love - that has the power to 'always protect, always trust, always hope, put up with anything and never quit' (I Cor 13:7-8 PAR). Merely trying to act lovingly will lead to despair and to the defeat of love. It will make us angry and hopeless.

But taking love itself - God's kind of love - into the depths of our being through spiritual formation will, by contrast, enable us to act lovingly to an extent that will be surprising even to ourselves, at first. And this love will then become a constant source of joy and refreshment to ourselves and others." (p. 24, Renovation of the Heart, Dallas Willard)

Brandon Heath - Your Love

[Hit the YouTube hot link to connect to play]

Brandon Heath sings, "Your love is the only thing that matters." He exclaims, "It's All I ever needed."

Good & Better News

I told my husband, "The good news is I love you, the better news is I'll pray for you."

I thought later about the truth of that statement. It's good that I love him. But, the better news is I will pray for him. He benefits from my love, but more so by my prayers. Give someone you love good and better news today: Love them and Pray for them.

Let Love Be Your Drive(r)

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that." Martin Luther King, Jr.

Loving Brings Knowledge

"Yes, thinking brings knowledge. But so too does love!" (p. 147, The Hope of Glory, Sam Storms)

Isn't that a remarkable statement?

Wisdom and knowledge through loving, not just books.

Knowledge from being and not just going to school.

Love today and see how much you learn!

Differences Between Love & Hate

"The major difference between hating and loving is perhaps whereas to love somebody is to be fulfilled and enriched by the experience, to hate somebody is to be diminished and drained by it. Lovers, by losing themselves in their loving, find themselves, become themselves. Haters simply lose themselves. Theirs is the ultimately consuming passion." (p. 123, Listening to Your Life, Frederick Buechner)

Later he says, "hate has its pleasures as well as love." (p. 128, ibid).

Which will you take pleasure in today?

We can be consumed by one or the other.

Which will consume you today?

"Love Will Keep Us Together"

Matt Maher sings, "Hold Us Together." Sing along..."It is the first day of the rest of your life..." and "it's all you need."