“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, 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.” 1 Corinthians 13:4-7
Love is all these things, but “love isn’t love, ‘til you give it away. There is a song by Michael W. Smith called “Give It Away.” Here is a verse from the song:
“A father lived in silence. Saw his son become a man. There was a distance felt between them, cause he could not understand. That love isn’t love, ‘til you give it away.”
My father and I did not have a close relationship. I loved my father, and I know he loved me. He showed me how to be a man. He taught me to be respectful, to have integrity, and to be a man of my word. But their was very little love shared between us. My father died of cancer some years ago. It was not until the end of his life that he finally realized that we had not developed that relationship of love. You see he did not learn until it was too late that “love isn’t love, ‘til you give it away.”
John 15:12-13 says, “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this , that he lay down his life for his friends.”
Christ told us to love one another. And the way to do this is to give our lives over to love. Christ made the ultimate sacrifice for love, by giving up His live for love. Love is a verb. Love without action is not love, and love that is not given away is not love. Do not come to the end of your life only to say, “I have not given love away.” Christ’s gift is love. Receive His gift of love and then give it away to others.
While my relationship with my father was not the best it could've been, because of Christ's love I know that one day we will see each other again in heaven. And that distance between us will be forever gone.
