VIRB

A few days ago I was playing around on my MacBook and decided to try writing out a quote about love and why we are here. At first attempt I came up with this: "If you are here for one thing it is love." Then I heard God ask in a whisper, "What if you're here for two things?" That got me thinking.

What is secondary to love yet above all else? I realized that the second thing on that list is also love, just in a different form. The final quote read, "If you are on this earth for one thing, it is to love. If you are on this earth for two things, they are to love and to be loved."

The order of those two things is the key. Whether or not our love is returned is trivial. It is loving that must come first. We are loved passionately and without reservation by our Creator. That is the love that matters. Our upbringing teaches us, typically, to ask "what's in it for me?" and to look out for ourselves above all else. Self-preservation of this style is, to me, sickening. God is love. To keep that love to ourselves is the most selfish thing we could do. For one person to withhold love from another because of the mistake of a third party is just unacceptable. Love is bold and courageous and without a doubt strong enough to overcome any fear instilled by a prior offense.

The word "Christian" roughly translates to "little Christ." If people are going to call us "little Christ" day in and day out shouldn't we do all we can to be like him? In "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me" Dr. Evil has a clone made of himself to act just like him, Mini-Me. He dresses like and apes the mannerisms of Dr. Evil well. I think if Mini-Me can manage that, we can all manage to love a little more and a little better.

The Bible instructs us to love our brother as we love ourselves, not to love our brother how he loves us. Remember, a little bit of yeast works through the whole loaf of bread.

in Christ,
Alex