This week is Valentine’s Week. People are focused on love. We need more love in our world, wouldn’t you agree? So how can you find a new fresh love each day? One that drives your life, that holds you safe and steady through thick and thin.
Just to be a bit more transparent with you, I have a confession to make. 
As soon as I realized we should be talking about LOVE, an alarm triggered inside me – “How ever will I write anything to encourage people to love God more deeply? How ever will I develop any credible thoughts to accurately present God’s new fresh love to readers?
Love is a wonderful concept, and at times, almost impossible to carry out! I fail more often than I’d like to admit when it comes to loving God and others.” I’m guessing you are the same.
The next thoughts I found in my mind consoled my heart a bit. “I do try! I keep aiming for love. And, I suppose I’m doing better at it than I did a couple of decades ago.”
New Fresh Love
As a person lives out the years of their life, trying this and that to address problems, relationships, obligations, and responsibilities, many solutions just simply start to sound “noisy.” Like an annoying and resounding gong or irritating clanging cymbal. At this point, a person either caves in and succumbs to the shallowness of life around them, melding into empty existence. OR, they simply shut down inside because it’s easier or less painful. OR – they do something more radical. They forge a new path, pioneer a different approach, brave a wild frontier. They look for better options and fresh solutions for whatever remaining years they might be blessed to live. These folks look for new fresh love in God. And they look for it every day.
In this broken world, life certainly has a reputation of falling short for anyone who has suffered deeply or experienced irretrievable losses. If you are in this place, please know there is hope. You have options.
A Stab at New Fresh Love That Failed
In the 60’s and 70’s, there was a phenomenon – a movement. I’ve heard it called the love generation, the beat generation (deriving to beatnik), flower power, free love, and the hippie generation. So many young people had become disillusioned, they decided to do something about all the lost love in the world. If you lived through the hippie movement, you remember. From “love-ins” to flower people to experimental options to sharing everything – these hungry individuals tried to address the deep hunger for love on this earth. Their hearts were searching. Craving. Perhaps even desperate. They lived out a kind of resounding gong – a clanging cymbal existence even as they cried out for love.
1 Corinthians 13, often called “The Love Chapter,” offers a new path, an undiscovered frontier with high-yielding risks for anyone desiring more effective and eternal options of love. It provides definition for a better journey. “Surely life is more than it appears. Surely there is still meaningful relationship to be had. Please tell me there is still love to enjoy and to enrich our lives with.”
God’s New Fresh Love
God’s love is so different from any love on earth. It is deep and rich. A quiet, compelling force, it can strip you of any and every excuse for not reveling in it. God’s love is inexplicably extravagant. It has power to tear down defenses and barriers. Yet, its power is gentle, kind, warm, welcoming, and healing to the broken heart. And to top all that, God’s love is freely given to every person who will receive it. You can’t earn it. Just open your heart and accept it. All this is truly amazing.
How can a human person ever love like God loves? It seems much easier for God to love than for people to love. The list of what love does is daunting: always be patient, kind, protecting others, ready to trust again, full of hope, never giving up, rejoicing in everything. But the list of what love does not do is even more intimidating: boast, be full of pride, be rude, engage in self-seeking, get mad quickly, not track hurts and wrongs others cause, not be glad when an enemy gets their just reward.
Questions to Ask Yourself
God says love never fails. Everything else in life fails, sooner or later. Even the process of growing up can be a disappointment, despite a possibly happy childhood. Some questions for you. How can a person stay in new fresh love, keeping life special – something to be treasured, especially when life begins its crushing process? How can you be known as you were intended to be known – and know the same about others? What is it like to age into cheer, positive perspective, and vitality – feeling more youthful in your heart as an older person than when you were young and energetic, with a body that worked much better? Adopting God’s love is the only way. His love empowers you into everything good that will last.
Keep choosing to love better. Go after this greatest gift. Add faith and hope, the other greater gifts, to ensure the best years possible in front of you. Let go of the past, the failed experiences of love, and risk a launch into new territory.
From love generation to i-generation. What the world needs is love – God’s love. Why not be an e-pistle of His love?
Much of the material today is taken from my book E-pistles For An i-Generation. In each session of the book, I include an “i-Apply” section where I ask helpful application questions. Here are some questions for you today:
i-Apply
- What can you do to show your love for God more consistently each day? Be specific.
- How can you love difficult people in your extended family or at your workplace? Be specific.
- How can you love yourself better so you can love your neighbor like God commands you to? He said to love your neighbor as you love yourself. (Lev. 19:18; Mt. 22:39) Be specific.
*You can order your copy of E-pistles For An i-Generation: Relevant in a Digital Age on our website.
