Bridges & Intersections

by Via Tsuji (Flickr Creative Commons)

Love, you smell it when someone brings your favorite flower or dish. It smells even better when you know they hate flowers or cooking and yet, because they know you like it, they overcome their dislike of flowers or cooking for you.

Love, you feel it when a hand touches yours when words are not enough to make you feel better. You feel it when a friend’s arms wrap around you to lighten the burden you carry. You feel it when you high five a colleague for a job well-done despite the odds that they were up against.

Love, you hear it when words arrange themselves to express someone else’s affection and affirmation of who you are. You hear it when they open their lives to you through their stories of joy or pain.

Love, you see it when a parent gives up her life for her children. You see it when you see a friend give up their comfort to share your pain. You see it when a stranger suffers in behalf of you because they care.

Love, you taste it when you eat your favorite dish on your birthday. You taste it when you’re sick and don’t have any appetite but your family forces you to eat so that you can take your medicine. You taste it when you drink fresh cold water after a good run.

We may or may not realize this but we are wired to experience love and we long for love when it is not as apparent as we hope it to be. We like being loved. We like loving our loved ones. We like to love other people.

In our heart of hearts, we long not just to enjoy being loved but love.

When love transcends words and actions and touches our hearts, we are loved. We are not just enjoying the love, we are experiencing love itself. Love envelops us. Love embraces us. Love enters us. Love changes us. In the same way, when our love transcend our words and action, we not just give love, we love.

Here’s a person who claims that He is love.

God says He is love. God is love. What does that mean?

Everything love is and beyond what we can imagine that is related to love, is God. Everything God does, He does out of who He is, out of love. If you have experienced true love, and you know when you have, you have experienced an expression of God.

Christ is the full expression of love. Christ is embodied love.

God knows how much our senses influences our experiences so he expresses who He is in various different ways.

Love. You smell it when fresh air breezes through. You smell it when the seasons change.

Love. You feel it when it’s really really hot and the a/c is turned on or when you dive through cold water and your being is renewed with exhilaration! You feel it when it pours after seeing the used-to-be green grass turn to brown.

Love. You hear it when the birds chirp at your windows or the rooster crows signaling that a new day is here. You hear it when a person who knows nothing about your struggle say a statement that nourishes your soul. “How could he have known?”, you ask yourself.

Love. You see it when a man give up His son to save humanity from self-destruction (Yes! God gave up His Son, Jesus, for you and me.). You see it when a stranger who owes you nothing dies for your sins (Yes! Isn’t Jesus a stranger who owes us nothing and yet He actually died for us?)

Love. You taste it when you eat freshly caught lobster by a friend who went down to 40 feet to get them.

Love is all around us. Most often than not, we are too busy to notice love. God’s love letter (the Bible) is left unread by millions of people fearing that it will restrict their life. The best love letter is one that not only melts your hearts with words but one that frees you to experience more love.

God is love. The best 3 worded sentence I can think of. So simple yet so profound.

“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Jesus Christ died for us.”

Are you ready to receive love today?

Not so sure. God isn’t as trustworthy in your experience? God says it’s okay that you don’t trust Him yet. But will you take a baby step toward love and it’s full expression?

Yes? Awesome!

What baby step toward love will you take? Send me a note or share below.