The Power Of Love

Love.  What an obsession we seem to have with it.  It's such a small word but it holds so much power.  Books have been written about it.  Movies have been made. Songs are sung about it and the foundation of God is about how much He loves us and what He was willing to do for us because of it as well as teaching us to show the same love to others in His name. He even says it's the greatest of all things:
" And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."
 1 Corinthians 13:13

As I listened to the songs during worship today at church, every song mentioned love. The book I am reading is about how love can turn even the most endearing of people into villians.  Love.  We all crave it but many of us turn it away.  Love can cause a damge so severe that it becomes unwanted.  When we have it, we feel rich and when we lose it, we feel betrayed.  Does love know it's the center of all things?  Does it realize it can destroy just as easily it can build up? 

Could I be so bold to admit that love defeated me?  I opened myself up to it, felt it and then it was snatched from me like a vapor in the wind.  My heart became void and vulnerable making it easy for the enemy to swoop in and plant fear, bitterness and suspicion deep within its' walls.  In all honesty, I can understand how one could become callous when they have lost such a powerful force.  I fear it and will not allow it in for I know what it can do.  Why would I take a risk of feeling...that pain...that pain that broke my heart in two, leaving it unmendable.  How could I ever trust love again?

As powerful as love is, people misuse it.  They take advantage of it.  They use it to trick others and they give little respect to the very thing for which all of life is based upon.  Love.  Do we really know the meaning of it?  God gives us a direct defintion of it:
"Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up;   does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil;   does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth;   bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things." 
1 Corinthians 13:4-7

So simple yet we reject it, blame it, and set out to destroy it.  And yet, even though it can leave us as empty shells, there is a little light hidden deep within us, just bright enough to hold out hope that love will return and make us whole again.  A flame no bigger than a grain of sand but mighty enough to fight for it.  Alert enough to watch out for it and strong enough to grab hold of it once again and never allowing it to escape. 

Love.  God created it so that we may know Him. The devil uses it to make us crumble.  And as God does for all things, He gives us a choice about it.  When love is put in front of you;  will you accept it or will you turn it away?  Will you embrace it or fear it?  When the devil tries to use it against you, will you use it against him?  Will it become your friend or your enemy?  Love....