Regular Joe's

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.  1 Corinthians 13:13

Love.  What a great word with which to end our 28 Words Devotional.  Huey Lewis and the News said that the Power of Love is a curious thing.  I agree with Huey, it sure is.

Jesus said something curious about the power of love.  He said, love your enemies because anyone can love someone who loves you in return. I’ve read those words for years but until the last few years I never understood the implications of them.  Here is what I used to think.  Be nice to mean people.  Be kind to rude people.  If someone is a jerk, ignore them and walk away instead of clobbering them.  I thought, I just don’t have that many enemies so this is one of those fine china verses.  (you only need it on a special occasions and usually for family)

Two words keep challenging me as I chew on Jesus’ teaching.  Common and Uncommon. Common – normal, natural, everyday…  Uncommon – out of the ordinary, against the flow, stands out from the norm.  The more I chew, the more I see these words applied to love.  My conclusion is that I do not want to live my life and be known only for common love.

Don’t get me wrong, I want my life filled with common love.  I am not trying to elevate one over the other or pit them against each other.  Common love is not always easy and takes a great deal of intentionality.  I know I can be so dang selfish that I actually don’t love at all.  So if I can fill my life and my days with common love, I wont complain.  I just don’t want it to stop there.  Here is why.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.    1 Corinthians 13:4-7

These words are used to describe uncommon Love.  I read them and check them off with a “pretty good” right up till I get to the “Always Section” and that’s when I see the need for some rearranging in my life.

To be honest, if you were to take the “Always Section” and share only that with someone, they would probably think “what a dumb way to love someone… Always… protect, trust, hope and persevere…?  You got to be nuts to do that!  People will take advantage of you…” But the truth is, we all want uncommon love like that when we are the one who needs protecting, trusting, hope and a persevering presence in our lives.  Here is the curious power of uncommon love.

Uncommon love is the love that caused God to create us and stamp us with His image.  Uncommon love is the love that the Father demonstrated by sending His Son to earth.  Uncommon love is the love that drove Jesus to the cross where the penalty of our sin was paid.  Uncommon love is the love God the Holy Spirit shows as He indwells and gifts us for purpose and service to our Father. Look above at the verse we started with.  Faith hope and love… and the greatest of these is love… uncommon and amazing love.

Random Act of Kindness: Today, give away uncommon love to someone.