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Bible Reading: Hebrews 13:1-3
Continue to love each other with true Christian love. Hebrews 13:1
YOU FLIP ON your radio and turn the dial to 93.5. Guitars wail, and an electric bass throbs while the lead singer sings, “Love me, love me, hug me, hold me….”
You spin the dial again. It lands on WOMY, the “oh, my!” station. A woman’s voice shrieks, “All I wanted was love, but all you gave me was sorrow….” Yuck.
You turn to another station, WGLD, the “golden oldies” station, and you hear a tinny band singing, “Love, love, love, love, love, love, love …” You think, And Dad says my music is monotonous!
You tune in 104.7, WYBU, the country station, and hear, “I’d paint myself green, /
I’d rip out my spleen, / I’d give up my brew, / If that would make you … love me …”
Yeah, right!
Finally, you turn to your favorite station, 107.1, your “eight million songs in a row” station! A sultry voice caresses the airwaves, “Your love, baby, your love, baby, your love, baby …” Yeah, you think, now that’s real music!
Everybody’s singing about love, right? Rock songs, country songs, rap songs, even Christian songs are mostly songs about love. Everybody wants love. Everybody wants to receive love. Everybody wants to “fall in love.” Why? Because just about everybody knows that love is good. It’s not just good, it’s great! It’s a gift from God; in fact, all love—not just romantic love—is from him. Love brings satisfaction.
Yet, in spite of all the songs about love and all the people who crave love and talk about love and dream about love, people still get in fights. They argue with each other. They stop talking to each other. They resent each other. They hurt each other. They hate each other.
Doesn’t make much sense, does it? No, especially when you consider all the satisfaction and rewards that come from loving others, and all the strife and stress that come from hurting and hating others. If you’ve ever quieted a crying baby, you know how satisfying it can be to love someone else. If you’ve ever fallen asleep in your mom or dad’s arms, you know how good love feels. If you’ve ever seen the look on a little kid’s face when you give him a piece of candy, you know how much fun love can be.
Love is the right thing to do. It’s also a lot more fun than the alternative.
REFLECT: Here’s something to think about. If you give away hatred, you get more and more empty the more you give; if you give love to others, you get more and more full the more you give away.
ACT: As you listen to the radio today, see how many songs you can count that are about love.
PRAY: “Dear Jesus, help me to give away real love today.”