“We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us…”
I John 3:16a (NLT)
Dear Cobham Park Church Family,
In my fourth grade class, I had a crush on a girl named Julie. At the time, I was pretty sure that I was in love, and so I decided to make her the best Valentine that I could muster. It took me a while to finally cut the perfect heart with dull scissors and red construction paper. Next, I composed a love poem for Julie which extolled her great beauty. The first line of my rhyme literally began with “Roses are red and violets are blue…” After carefully writing my verses on the paper heart, I moved on to the crowning flourish. I’d seen a roll of white lace in my Mother’s sewing room, so I sweet-talked her into helping me to attach a lace border around the edges of the heart. Armed with a Valentine like this, I was confident that Julie would be swept off her feet!
I know now, of course, that compared with other kinds of love, this “puppy love” would prove to be ridiculously weak and fleeting. How could my childish infatuation compare to the love that I would have for a son or grandchild? And the love that I’ve shared for thirty years with my wife leaves that first Valentine in the dust! Even my present love for good friends far surpasses anything I once felt for Julie.
We use the word “love” willy-nilly to describe our affection for anyone or anything— from a lover to pizza. But there is a kind of love that eclipses all others. It is the deep, real, and everlasting love shown by God for me in Jesus Christ. The love revealed on the cross is no mere infatuation or preference. This is love without an angle. It isn’t conditional or temperamental. It can never be stopped or changed—even by my unfaithfulness and unworthiness. God’s love never gets tired or bored with you and me. It will never change its mind or leave us. Here is the love of loves; all other loves find their source, meaning, and fulfillment in God’s love. God’s love can’t even be separated from Who He is. God doesn’t have love—He is love. In this wonderful love, He now asks, “Will you be mine?”
In His Love,
Pastor Keith
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