The Faith Project – It’s Exciting – Love is in the Air
Love is in the air and I’m excited! It’s February so of course, The Faith Project has to examine and live out love.
What can you expect?
Ways to live out loud our love for God, and tips and ideas to help you apply the 5 Love Languages to your relationships.
I believe intentionally looking for ways to love God with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength . . . and loving the people around me well will bless my relationships and grow my faith.
Are you ready? Let’s go!
Love is universally talked about and wanted. The word itself comes with a long list of definitions. And in this imperfect world . . . living it out is full of both the wonderful and painful.
Love is complicated and confusing isn’t it?
Let’s look at that list of definitions from Miriam-Webster Dictionary:
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1a(1): strong affection for another arising out of kinship or personal ties <maternal love for a child>(2): attraction based on sexual desire : affection and tenderness felt by lovers (3): affection based on admiration, benevolence, or common interests <love for his old schoolmates>b: an assurance of affection <give her my love>
- 2: warm attachment, enthusiasm, or devotion <love of the sea>
- 3a: the object of attachment, devotion, or admiration<baseball was his first love>b(1): a beloved person: darling —often used as a term of endearment (2)British —used as an informal term of address
- 4a: unselfish loyal and benevolent concern for the good of another: as (1): the fatherly concern of God for humankind (2): brotherly concern for others b: a person’s adoration of God
- 5: a god or personification of love
- 6: an amorous episode: love affair
- 7: the sexual embrace: intimacy
Is it any wonder we get confused? Love can mean anything from simple affection to passion or enthusiasm to devotion. Pretty non-specific.
Aren’t you glad God gives us a better definition?
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, 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 Corinthians 13: 5–8
That’s what we want. Love that is perfect patient, kind, non-envying, non-boastful, humble, other-centered, patient, truthful, hopeful, unfailing, and forever.
So, we chase after it but too often miss it.
God’s perfect love lived out among His children.
For today, let’s stop and breathe in the love God has for you and me.
Don’t miss – 10 Things You Need to Remember You are Loved.
And then hold close to your heart:
And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. 1 John 4:16
All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else. But God is so rich in mercy, and He loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, He gave us life when He raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) Ephesians 2:3–5
I’m excited about digging deep . . . looking at ways I can better love God and the people He puts around me.
For now, let’s look at a few more quotes . . . God’s Perfect Love for You –
“Though we are incomplete, God loves us completely. Though we are imperfect, He loves us perfectly. Though we may feel lost and without compass, God’s love encompasses us completely. … He loves every one of us, even those who are flawed, rejected, awkward, sorrowful, or broken.” ~Dieter F. Uchtdorf
“God is love. He didn’t need us. But he wanted us. And that is the most amazing thing.” ~Rick Warren
“We sinned for no reason but an incomprehensible lack of love, and He saved us for no reason but an incomprehensible excess of love.” ~Peter Kreeft
“Though our feelings come and go, God’s love for us does not.” ~C.S. Lewis
“There’s no place too dark for God’s light to penetrate and no heart too difficult to be set aflame by His love.” ~Sammy Tippit
“Your worth is based on the price someone is willing to pay for you, and God almighty paid for you with His precious Son, Jesus.” ~Rebecca Bryan
“For this is how God loved the world: He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent His Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through Him.” John 3:16–17
God lives. God loves. God loves you. Today. Tomorrow. Forever and Always.
You and I have everything we need to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength and to love our neighbors as ourselves. We receive it through God’s love, grace and mercy.
Let The Faith Project’s look at love begin.
I’m certainly looking forward to exploring love with you this month, Deb. Thank you for reminding us right off the bat how great, vast, and inexplicable God’s love truly is for us.
Blessings!
Too often we’re willing to paint Him with a human brush. We compare His love to the countless people who have let us down. My prayer this month is to soak in His love and then turn it back and spread it with the people He’s placed around me. Thanks for taking this journey with me. God’s blessings!
What a wonderful reminder of God’s Love, Deb!
I’ve shared this on Twitter, Pinterest, and FB today! Hoping you will FEEL the love!
Blessings,
Melanie
I definitely feel the love! Thank you my friend for this much needed encouragement! Blessings and hugs!
Love has definitely been searched for and defined in many different ways over time. I really like reading the Love chapter, which describes love so well…love is patient, kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, is not proud,,,,,and on it goes! God’s love for each of us is the ultimate kind of love, as He gave His only begotten Son to show us how much He loves us!! What a blessing to be able to receive that kind of love!!
Like so many things I think we want a quick easy answer to explain love. When it is huge and hard to understand. Looking at God and His gracious gift of grace given in Jesus shows us just how huge love really is. Blessings to you!
🙂 Love is His language and it is the very one our hearts are made to hear. When the Love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit ( Rom 5:5) we are changed in ways that allow us to spill over into every other vessel that is built to contain love. We are all built to be love receptacles, aren’t we? 🙂
Love always looks like Jesus to me.
Bless you!
Dawn