Search and find the Author of Love.

 Colossians 3:14-17

“And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

If a person wants the secret to this life, they would be wise to explore these three verses.  They begin with “and above all these put on love, ” and that should generate in one's mind questions.  Questions like how does one put on love, what is love, for in our culture it is the most over used word and it is very confusing, what is its real meaning?  I have said, and so have you, I love that, and it may be a car, a color, a hot dog, a sport, a person, and the list keeps going and going.  Then we hear a person say I love God, and soon after the same person will say I love that dress, so it is confusing, how does one put on love?  I looked in the dictionary for help on defining love, and this is what I found.  Love: “an intense feeling of deep affection,” now you sure do not have that over a hot dog, or a dress, but you would for your wife/husband, your children, and God. 

I was wondering where a self-centered critter like me could change to a person of an intense feeling of deep affection?  Where is the source of love and so I decided to ask Siri on my I-phone; “What is the meaning of Love” and she replies; "Bob, that is an interesting question."  Not what I was looking for, so I opened the Bible and began to search and found an abundance of Scriptures about love.   It addresses brotherly love, love for Christ, for the Church, for enemies, for family, for friends, and the list was very lengthy.

But then I came to 1John 4:7-12, and I knew I had found the answer to putting on love. “Beloved let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.”  In verse 9, one could say Love sent His only Son into the world so that we might live through Him.  So when this self-centered person invited Love into my heart, Jesus began to change my heart to be more like Love, or God.  Now we are getting somewhere!

 Going back to Colossians 3:14, we are told that “love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.”  A sane person yearns for unity, for when there is not harmony we find discord and that creates conflicts and friction.  So God is all about harmony! 

Verse 15 gives this insight, “And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.”  Now before I entered into Christ by faith and the grace of Love/God, I knew times of happiness, but not peace.  But as I began to give more of myself to Christ and allowed Him to live His life in and through me, I began to put on love.  My desires changed, and I longed for harmony, peace, and His word began to reshape a self-centered person.

A prudent individual will apply verse 17, “And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”  Nowhere was anyone promised a sinless life, but the power to not allow sin to have control over you, and my hope is that you do as I did, search and find the author of Love.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice