Agape

"And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ;"-Philippians 1:9-10

February is the month of groundhogs, African Americans and of course LOVE. This morning during my devotional I happened to come upon this passage. I read it first once through and thought I understood. But then I read it again for better understanding, and glanced at the footnotes. That is when it became clear. The footnote stated, "Real love requires growth and maturation". Then it went on to say, "Christian love is not mere sentiment; it is rooted in knowledge and understanding". During this month, everyone is going to be exhibiting or trying to show some form of love. They will buy flowers, send cards, inundate mail with boxes of candy and chocolates or run up their credit cards with expensive dinners for their significant others. All this in an attempt to show how much they love.  But is this really LOVE? It is easy for everyone to get caught up in the hype. We all feel happy and loved when someone remembers to send us candy or a card this month. There is nothing wrong with this. But what I found particularly alarming is how this practice has become a societal norm. I think we need to take a step back and redefine for ourselves what love is. This passage is definitely a start. So often we throw this term around more than a pigskin. Our "I love you's" become synonymous to saying "Thank You" or "Excuse me". It has lost its value and meaning. Our love is still as infantile as a kindergartener's way of thinking. What we need to do is start working on the growth and maturation of our love. How do we do this? Well getting a better understanding of what it is can be helpful. And then figuring out ways to show it, other than materially, can also guide us further down the path. The best example though I feel will be attempting to emulate Christ's love for us. A love that went far beyond superficial sentiment and sacrificed itself just so that we might be saved and live more abundantly through his grace. That is the ultimate love, and obtaining something like that is gonna take a lot more than chocolates and flowers. I'm still working on it. I'll let you know how that goes.

King James Study Bible, Zondervan