Love One Another, Lesson #1 Love One Another, Lesson #2 Love One Another, Lesson #3 Love One Another, Lesson #4 Love One Another, Lesson #5 Love One Another, Lesson #6 Love One Another, Lesson #7 Love One Another, Lesson #8 Love One Another, Lesson #9 Love One Another, Lesson #10 Love One Another, Lesson #11 Human love is convenient. It suits the needs of the person at the time and works into his schedule. God’s love is eternal. You are always on God’s itinerary. Come and go as you wish, but he’s always there. Human love is limited. It can love only as much as it wants to give. God’s love is unlimited. He has ample amounts of love and even uses words like abundant when talking about pouring out his love on people. Human love is emotional. Feelings dominate a human’s love landscape. We feel as though we’re in love, or we don’t feel as though we’re in love. Hormones, sleeplessness, worry, past hurts, Mexican food—all complicate these emotions. God’s love is committed. While God has feelings for us, his feelings don’t dictate his love. His love is based on a decision to love us. Your actions don’t increase or decrease his commitment. His love is a deeper and more secure love than the fluctuating Ferris wheel of feeling. Human love is selfish. It must suit our needs and be there for us. To love, we must be loved. God’s love is unselfish. In fact, if you never love God, he will still love you. Your love has no bearing on the amount of love he lavishes on you. One thing human love has going for it is that you can see it—in the twinkling of your father’s eye, in the smile of a spouse, in the joy in your children’s voices. God’s love is just as real but not as tangible. We will see it, in time and for eternity, as we gaze at the face of God and his Son, Jesus Christ, while we stand in his presence in heaven. Our goal as Christians should be to express God’s love in our human relationships so people will never make the statement you made. We should all have someone in our lives on whom we can look back and say, “I saw God’s love in that person.” Max Lucado, Life to the Max - a Max Lucado Digital Sampler (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2011). | 21 Laws of Discipleship -- the book -- |