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com/2013/02/10/love-song/

Love Song:
Let me love you, until you learn to love yourself. So sings NeYo, in his 2012 hit by the same name, and his words touch my heart in a way that takes me by surprise. While he may not have intended his song to resonate in this way, he speaks of a love that is so profound, so divine; a love that can effect such change to our innermost being, and then by extension, to the way we see the world, and the way in which we interact with others. Ne-Yos words, I would like to show you what true love can really do sets a perfect backdrop to the power of this Divine Love that can change lives. Scriptural Context: (you can click on the links here to read the full Scriptural texts)
1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Without love, we are nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.
1 John 4:7-21

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love. We love, because he first loved us.
Galatians 5:6

The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.

Reflection:
I thought I had this love thing all figured out. Woman in her forties, happily married 20+ years, two beautiful children for whom I would lay down my life. Stable, secure and happy upbringing, with no shortage of family and extended family members in a loving environment. A cat who defies the rest of the feline kingdom by expressing love unconditionally and who will always seek me out for loving embraces. A workplace environment that is full of team and support. And yet, there is something new, too a new intimacy about love that has to do with a burgeoning Spiritual side I never really knew I had. Its a bit terrifying, to be honest, in its raw

energy and its persistence. Its unsettling it agitates and shakes me out of a comfortable status quo. What Im tasting, I think, is True Love, of the Divine sort - the kind that Paul talks about in that 1 Corinthians passage. Its the kind of love that challenges us to take our competencies to a whole new level. Otherwise, we are like a resounding gong or clanging cymbal simply making noise, but without integral effect or purpose. It speaks to accepting the Love that has been offered to us, and then accepting our part in using this Love to serve others - all the while playing our part in His holy plan, with the gifts He has equipped us to use for this purpose. Check out the parameters of this Love. Pause and digest each descriptor: it is patient, kind, does not envy, nor boast, and is not proud. It does not dishonour others; it is not self-seeking, nor easily angered. It keeps no record of wrong. It does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects. Always hopes. Always perseveres. It never fails. True love never fails.
So I think about why I have been able to live my life to this point thinking I knew what love was. And for me, now, its all about sensing something very special going on an awareness that somethings happening here, something in the Spiritual realm that is newly opening to me. For me, it comes down to that letter from John above, where he defines this new Love, and the fact that Love comes from God himself; even more directly, from His gift of His one and only Son into our little world, so that we might live, and experience Love. Indeed, this is Love. We love, because He loved us first. Thats the newness that is dawning on me, and that is opening up this whole new realm and depth of what Love really means. So the first song below is powerful, related directly to the 1 Corinthians passage. I heard it first when I was dealing with the deaths of far too many colleagues all my age, all with families. But it provided great comfort through all that and I shared it with others for that same purpose. It has left many of us bawling, quite frankly. The second song I hesitated to share because it is still so personal to me. Sharing it is an intimate act for me, as it outlines my brand new, growing understanding. And that act of sharing still feels a little risky for me. I think youll understand when you listen to it. Offered to you as an insight to this new learning for me; maybe it will resonate with you as well. Blessings to you, friend!

Prayer: I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his
Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge - that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:16-19

Message in Music:
Love Never Fails, by Brandon Heath http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nQy-aP_Koo

Love is not proud, love does not boast. Love after all matters the most. Love does not run; love does not hide. Love does not keep locked inside. Love is the river that flows through. Love never fails you. Love will sustain, love will provide. Love will not cease at the end of time. Love will protect; love always hopes. Love still believes when you don't. Love is the arms that are holding you. Love never fails you When my heart won't make a sound, when I can't turn back around; When the sky is falling down - Nothing is greater than this, greater than this. Love is right here. Love is alive. Love is the way, the truth, the life. Love is the river than flows through; love is the arms that are holding you. Love is the place you will fly to. Love never fails you This So Called Love, by MercyMe http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOrKrmFoXSI

I can be there for you when it can't get much harder I can cover your head when life starts to rain I can hold on tight when you feel like you're falling I can bread crumb the path when you've lost your way I can make you laugh when the whole world is crying I can build you up when you're broken in shame But if all that we do is absent of Jesus, then this so called love is completely in vain...