What Else? part 5
When it comes down to it, what else really matters? You can spend your three t's (time, talent, treasure) trying to get something you (think you) haven't got... but that's not really living. And by doing that, you rob yourself OF really living. You know the old saying, "If you work for a living, why do you kill yourself working?" It doesn't make sense. And the worst part is... if you're trying to earn something that can't be earned, you're missing out on the gift you've already been given. Because, just like in the Wizard of Oz, what you're looking for is what you've had all along. Its inside you. And, yes, the right people can help bring that love our of you, but you first have to know and believe that its in there. That's why 1 John 4:19 is so important. "We love him, because he first love us." The love comes from God, fills us up to overflowing, and comes out of us. And I like this verse even better in the NLT, "We love each other because he loved us first." We love Him BY loving each other. Jesus said, "'And the King will say, "I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!"'" (Matthew 25:40). We love each other because He first loved us. And we love Him by loving each other. Its all a big circle of love. That's what life is; spending time with the people you love. I read somewhere that children spell love "T-I-M-E." Because once you give someone your time, you can't get it back. Its a gift. And, again, that's what love is--giving someone everything you are and everything you have. That might seem scary, too, because there IS a chance that they'll reject your gift. But perfect love casts out all fear. And when you find someone who loves you like you love them... that's when you really understand what it means to live. To be truly and fully alive. There's something special about loving people even if they don't accept it (right now). There's something special about planting a seed. But when the harvest comes... when you see the fruit of that labor (HIS labor on the cross manifesting as you let HIM live HIS life in you, and through you, and as you) that's something amazing. The harvest. Which Jesus described in Luke 10:2, "Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest." We are the labourers, in the sense that we reap what He has sown. In the sense that He is Word (LOVE) and in us the Word is made flesh. Love in action is charity. Giving. And that's what its all about. Nobody ever went broke by being generous. The more you give, the more you find that you have. Because, in this sense, giving is really SHARING. And things are more real when they are shared. Shared experiences are always better. Shared lives are always better. It is not good that man should be alone. And there's nothing worse than FEELING like you're alone even when you're not. So, to end this Rant, my entire point is... Logan said I should Rant about love. Because what else is worth Ranting about? And we should live a life of love. Because what else is worth our lives? God loved us first and He gave His life FOR us, and TO us. So that we could give our lives--our love--to each other. And in that way give them to God. Living FOR God (love) by living IN God (love)!