Pause

In our search for love and in our desire for love we might sometimes ask, "Where does love come from?" The answer is elusive, and the origins of love remain something of a mystery sometimes, even as we experience it.

But believers start by making this assertion: Love comes from God. God is its source and its keeper.

Live into this gracious truth even now as you set aside some time alone with the Source of all love.

Listen

Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he said, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the law? What do you read there?” He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” And he said to him, “You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.”

Luke 10:25-28

Think

The lawyer is trying to ask Jesus a tricky question, but the answer couldn’t be more straightforward. He even supplies it out of the Scriptures himself: Love the Lord your God, and love your neighbor.

Jesus identifies this as the answer to questions of life. Do this, and you will live. On one hand, this exchange is so simple. “Love is the answer” – the lyrics to many a song – almost sounds blasé today.

Yet, the love Jesus calls us to is astounding in its fullness. The command to love God with all of our hearts, minds, souls, and strength beckons each to ask, “How can my love for God be more complete? How can I love God with all parts of my life?” Loving our neighbors as we love ourselves is also no easy task; it sometimes requires that we care for the needs of people we don’t know or like.

Let this passage challenge you today. What is one way you can love God more completely? Who do you need to embrace with a spirit of love?

Meredith Shaw

Pray

God, I love you, but sometimes I lose focus on loving you and my neighbors actively each day. How can I be more loving? Guide me, O Lord of love and life. Amen.

Go

Imagine a stream running over its banks.
The waters cannot be held back
And will not be contained.

Tell out the good news.
"Warn" everyone.
God's loving flood is coming.