2021 charge of limitless love

Good morning! As we end this series on His Love, let us be mindful of all that has happened in 2021. Yet there is so much more we can cover as this is a subject that cannot be exhausted. We have focused the last few months on what is the mainstream of the Bible. From Genesis to Revelation, we read of love and its definition and a God that is love. We see in the pages hope for a better life and a future not filled with despair but one of heroes and conquerors. How to proceed forward and not get stuck in our past. 

The great part of what we are challenged with is that it didn’t end in the writing, it continues through each believer. We can choose not to submit to emotions, but to a love that surpasses all understanding. A love that says despite how I am treated, “Father forgive them, they know not what they do.” A love that looks at those who stone us and sees beyond them into the heavens, into Jesus. Let the focus of our love be Jesus, with our eyes remaining on Him, we can love the unlovable. 

We remember that “God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son.” We remember the attributes of love in 1 Corinthians 13. Furthermore, we are reminded that love never fails. We are reminded to love our enemies, that there is no greater power than love. Yet in all that, we are challenged each day to put those reminders into action. To turn the other cheek, to be patient and kind, and not to expect anything even when others reject our love. 

2021 has been a challenging year in so many ways. The focus of the last few months was to encourage us that love has its place in the life of the rich and the poor, the sick and the well, the hurt and those who hurt. If I could summarize everything in a few words, it would be that there is no limitation to love and the only limitation is to the extent of the love we have mastered. 

1Thessolonians 3:11-13 KJ2000 “Now God himself even our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, direct our way unto you. And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you; To the end He may establish your hearts unblamable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints.” 

It’s fitting to end the year with these words written by a man who had zeal but did not yet understand the power of love. One who mistakes his religious zeal for a mission to destroy those who did not think as he did, nor was born with the same gifting. Paul like many of us must be reminded that it is through God the Father, through Jesus Christ, that we are directed. Only when He directs our path is there a future and a hope and true love. That our love grows toward one another first and then towards all men. That phrase “all men” is inclusive of those who are different from us and those who don’t quite know how yet to love. The hope, in all that we have learned, is that it will grow(abound) more and more. Can that be our prayer leaving 2021? 

Beyond the losses we have experienced, beyond the strife in our lives and families, beyond the fears of allowing the walls of separation that we tend to believe protect us from hurt from others. Beyond the physical and emotional barriers that would separate us. Let us focus on the good we did experience. The memories of joy, even if we lost loved ones. To forever be thankful for the opportunity that we shared a moment in time with each person that crossed our path. 

Now that we understand that “nothing can separate us from this love height nor depth, angels, principalities, things above or beneath”. Let there be a commitment in all that we have studied, read, and experienced in 2021. Let it direct our way into the future of 2022 and beyond. 

As stated above, as you abound in love, “… To the end, He may establish your hearts unblamable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints.” Let Him establish our hearts. It has always been a symbol in most cultures that the heart is a representation of love. We write I ❤️ you and it is understood. 

Let it be written as in times of old, in the year 2021, the year of our Lord, it came to pass. May the hope of “THE YEAR OF OUR LORD 2022” change us along the journey, to reap fruit and to plant seeds that bring forth more fruit. 

May the Lord richly bless you and wrap you in the love that comes through Christ Jesus. May the overflow of that love touch the lives of many as you are reminded in the midst of the battle that LOVE NEVER FAILS.