by Joanne Wiklund
As a writer of fiction these days, I look to action verbs. Love is an action verb. It’s also a noun, as in Jesus is Love. He showed His love to the masses who were drawn to him, to his followers, who were around Him. Even those who tried to restrain Him from leaving them.
What does that have to do with me? When I share my love with others is it a noun, a verb or an active living spirit I can share willingly? Do I give my love freely without restraint, unconditional love, that which most of us seek? Like God’s love, does my love come to others unencumbered with stipulations? Or do I have restrictions?
I will love you If… If you do what I want…..If you give me what I want…..If you make me first in your focus in life…..If what I have you think of as yours also…..If you try too hard to convince me that you love me too…..If you don’t change how you treat me…..If your love lessens as I change for the better. People reared with conditional love sometimes tend to share it that way. Is our standard unconditional love? It’s not easy, loving that way. It can be hard, but it also leads to expanding love given to us also. Jesus told us that we need to treat others as we want to be treated ourselves. We work on that, but repercussions can be identifiable and sometimes difficult. Not everyone feels that way.
Children respond to touch, smiles, laughter, some of the best expressions of action verb usage of love. When we look into the eyes of anyone and they smile back at us with their eyes, sometimes we see that unconditional love. We know we are loved. We know that Jesus loves us through them. His peace He left with us. We see it in the expression of pure love in the eyes of those who love us back. Find your people. Peace.
Psalm 97:10 “Ye that love the Lord, hate Evil.”
2 Timothy 1:7 “God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power and of love, and of a sound mind.”