Love

"Love will hold us together. Make us a shelter to weather the storm. And i'll be my brother's keeper so the whole world will know that we're not alone."
Matt Maher: Hold Us Together

Before you read this, read the lyrics again. Think about them. Apply them to your life.

I was watching a video that a friend of mine made. It had this song in it, and it was me and a group of friends at an overnighter in the Church hall. This was probably the 7th or 8th time i'd watched it. No joke. It's that good. It doesn't really have a spiritual feel to it, and it doesn't have much religious value either. But it shows so much fellowship, i actually cried this time when i watched it. Not sad tears, but tears of "Wow we are ridiculous." Tears of happiness i guess you could say. It was the Youth Group's annual 'Prom-missed Night'. We stay up all night long and play games and have fun. That's it. There's not anything else to it but that. And the song 'Hold Us Together' captures that night perfectly. There was so much love in the hall that night. Not like "Oh my love, i love you" kinda love. That's different. This kind of love was friendly love. It's the kind of love that can take years to develop. But i guess it comes along quicker when your friends are rooted in Christ. It comes quicker when you all feel comfortable with one another. It's incredible really.

That kind of love is what we all search for more often than not. You think that you're looking for a soulmate, or someone to spend the rest of your life with. But actually, alot of us are looking for fellowship. We're looking for friends to talk to, or people to hug you in a breakdown moment. Granted, all that mushy stuff is good also. But i think people want to be loved more often than kissed. These days, society incorporates love into everything. Literally, everything. And it's ridiculous. You want to see perfect love, look to the cross. Look at Jesus battered and bruised, crying out to his Father, asking why in the hell did he have to go through this. Look at his blood stained skin, the nails in his hands and feet, the crown on his head, and the hole in his side, and tell me what perfect love is if not that.

It's not about the stuff you have. Sure, you can really really like that stuff. But it's NOT love. 'Love' by definition is a proufoundly tender and passionate affection for another. Right below that definition, it says 'sexual intercourse.' Uhm...SEX IS NOT LOVE!!! Sex is lust. Sex is the desire to feel close to someone. Sex is not okay, unless in the context of marriage. SO many people these days are just having sex like it's not a gift. And it definately is. So, as a sidenote: DON'T HAVE SEX UNTIL YOUR MARRIED!!!

Anyway. I was talking to a friend the other day, and we were talking about love. Unconditional love. Love that can only come from Jesus. If you want that love, give that love. Don't discriminate against people when you love. Don't 'decide' who you should love or not. Love everyone! That's what Jesus did. He loved thieves, and people who stole money. He loved prostitutes and whores. He loved sinners and people who defied the Will of God. He loved people who hated his guts. Can you do that? Can you love someone who hates you? I know that i can't. I struggle with that every day of my life. And i pray about it often. Don't worry about what people will think of you. Don't worry about your status if you love that person that's sitting in the corner, or the 'freak of the class' Don't worry about your celebrity. If you want to make it into Heaven, reject celebrity. Jesus hated celebrity. He rejected it. Jesus (Uhm, he's the guy that performed miracles, and the guy that they nailed to a CROSS) was just another guy. He wasn't this big guy that everyone knew about. That came later. People knew about him because of what he did. Not because of how handsome he was. Don't do things for people to get recognition.

"The only autograph your going to need to get into Heaven is the Word of God written on your heart."