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Love - The Most Excellent Way

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And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow--not even the powers of hell can separate us from God's love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below--indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.   -- Romans 8: 38-39 (NLT)

 

In this day an age people get divorced simply from being too lazy to work things out. Life is not easy all of the time beloved. Sometimes things that you really want require some work. But love the way God intended it is meant to be permanent. Look at the rock solid nature of the love God has for us. Neither life not death. Nothing from heaven or hell. Nothing from yesterday or tomorrow. Nothing in the sky or on earth. Nothing that was ever created at all can separate us from the love of God. Poets can wax eloquently about love but they do not know it the way God has designed it. Sacrificial to the point of selflessness. Adoptive to the point of permanence. Reliable to the point of absoluteness. That is the most excellent way.

 

It seems that everyone reads the "love verses" from 1Corinthians 13 at their wedding. Believers and non-believers. My brother and his new wife had them read this weekend as well. The true challenge for us who still want to believe in love is that these verses were not designed to be read out for ceremony but lived out for relationship. That is surpassingly more difficult however because the list of things Paul recites are the very things we are not within our flesh. They are the very things we are not by nature. We are not kind or patient. We are jealous, boastful, proud and rude by nature. We are irritable, do want our own way and certainly keep a record of wrongs. What is God saying then when He lists these things as being the true nature of the most excellent way? He is saying that love is ultimately a choice. That we must choose to be kind and patient -- not just read them at a ceremony. We must choose to resist our nature of being jealous, boastful, proud or rude when it comes to people we have chosen to love. I know, I know -- that is not very poetic. That is ok though because poetry raises expectations beyond the realities of this life -- God does not. Poetry keeps little girls looking for white knights and little boys hoping for that princess that simply do not exist.

 

God however offers no such illusions. He understands that the most excellent way is a difficult way to follow. No one can choose to go against their human nature permanently. But we can strive for it beloved. We can realize that the people we claim to love are worth striving for. Will we succeed all of the time? Of course not because we are inescapably human. God however will always have the most excellent way open for us to get back on the right track with each other. That is what love simply does, is it not?

 

My brother Desmond and his new wife Shannon leave for their honeymoon tomorrow. Their wedding was beautiful and compelling and even poetic. In the midst of the whirlwind however, God spoke to them from 1Corinthians 13. They may not have realized it when they chose these verses to be read at their ceremony. But if they will listen, God was speaking. He was telling them the most excellent way. The way to extend the honeymoon until they are old and grey and blessed by their children's children. It is the love the way God intended it to be. It is the way that God loves us and expects us to try and love each other. It is sacrificial to the point of selflessness. That means after God -- the other person comes first. You come last. That is selflessness by definition. That is sacrificial at its core. That is love.

 

Secondly, love is adoptive to the point of permanence. You adopt each other with the understanding that this choice is not a fragile one. It is rock solid. I would suggest that all of the folks who say they "fell out of love" have simply read too much poetry. How permanent is the love of God? I think of the thief on the cross next to Christ. He was potentially seconds away from death; a death he deserved according to his life. Yet he reached out to God and Jesus said that He would see paradise with Him that very day. Love always restores and forgives. There is a permanence to it that says "never give up." I know that is a passé message in the time we are living in where divorce is celebrated and commitment is mocked but the most excellent way is not necessarily the most traveled.

 

Lastly, love is reliable to the point of absoluteness. The first characteristic dealt with the nature of love and the second with the duration. This deals with the assuredness of love. It should be the one constant in an inconsistent world. It should be the one thing you know that you know that you know you can rely upon. That is why it is the most excellent way. I know in this life no matter how deep my valley gets that God does not love me any less. I know that no matter how badly I might mess up that God does not love me less. There is nothing that can separate me from the love of God -- NOTHING. The Bible says that none can be plucked from His hand. That is the assuredness of the most excellent way. That is how we were meant to love.

 

Selflessly sacrificial, permanently adoptive and absolutely reliable. I pray that these facets of God's design for love are manifest in the marriage of my brother and Shannon as well as for us all moving forward in this life. Let us put aside the poetry and grasp the truth of God's Word. That there is another way. It is a better way. Today, let God show you the most excellent way.

 

Reverend Anthony Wade -- September 24, 2012

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Credentialed Minister of the Gospel for the Assemblies of God. Owner and founder of 828 ministries. Vice President for Goodwill Industries. Always remember that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him and are called according to (more...)
 
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