Y’all remember the movie,” Open Range?” I have the dvd somewhere. Some would say it was too violent; other folks might say it had a touch too much romance in it. Charles Travis
“Charley” Postlewaite (Kevin Costner) had been a soldier in the Civil War. He was a lieutenant to Bluebonnett “Boss” Spearman, played by Robert Duvall.
If you saw the movie, then you’ll remember Charley Postlewaite was smitten by the doctor’s able assistant, Susan Barlow (Annette Benning). But this relationship was slow to get started because Charley and Boss thought she was the doc’s wife. They had it wrong! She turned out to be Doc’s sister. This changed things for Charley Postlewaite.
Charley and Boss were about to have to take on the local ruthless cattle/land baron. But in the middle of all of this, Charley and Susan Barlow were falling for each other. But there were other things that must be tended to first. And real true love waits.
Love will endure and the apostle Paul knew this very well. Even though we may possess one awesome gift or another, none of it means diddly squat without being motivated by love. As Christians, we may be talented, we may be gifted, devoted, or even generous in the giving of ourselves and other resources, we may even possess a faith that can move mountains; but all of that is worth a hoot or yeehaw if love is not present (13:1-3).
In 1 st Corinthians 13, Paul writes, “Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails…” (1 Cor 13:4-8a nasb)
And Paul goes on to explain how faith, hope, and love form a sort of a heavenly trio of spiritual graces that will endure forever, but he stresses how “the greatest of these is love.”
Yep, love is patient and kind. Anybody can love when people are “loving” back, but how hard is it to love when the other person seems to be in attack mode? We are to love and expect nothing.
Love isn’t jealous. How do we act when others receive something we can’t obtain?
Love doesn’t go around braggin’ or bein’ puffed up like Super Sugar Crisp!
Love is not rude or selfish. It seeks out the good in others.
Love fits right in with truth. Deceit has no place. Your non-covid handshake ought to be enough!
Love will never let you down, it will never fail.
Love is a reverent thing. God is love. If that is the case, then there is no way that sin that could ever be associated with love. Love is pure and true.
Love starts and stops with God. He created it and He desires for us to share it with others. The more we share the love of God, the more it grows within us. We are most like God when we love.
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. (1 John 3:16 niv)
In the Greek this is known as agape love. It is totally sacrificial and committed to the well-being of another. This originates with God!
Then there is phileo which is a brotherly kind of love.
The third type of love is eros, a sensual love God intends for the marriage relationship. The marriage relationship should contain all three types.
The world seeks to distort love because God is love. Know God and know love!
Choose Jesus, choose life and let your light shine! And find a Bible believin’ church where you “fit in” and know, grow, and follow Christ! Tell others! See y’all at church and keep PRAYIN’ for HIS HARVEST! Pray for the rain! Amen.