Intro: Why love without Jesus doesn't work.

An Intro. I am young. 25, soon 26. I am single, and I have had my share of relationships. I haven't written anything this focused or public because I want all the people I know to be able to read it, both those who profess faith in Jesus Christ and those who don't, and I honestly didn't know how to go about it. Until now. So if anyone finds this somewhere out there, please humbly explore these thoughts, my hope is that they will lead you to true love.

I can't think of a word that is more used, misused, and controversial than the word "love". However for the Bible believer it is laid out very simply:

Corinthians 13:4-8:4

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.

I think the honest person, if they examine their lives and how they treated the ones they "loved," will admit that this is beyond their grasp. I know it is beyond mine alone.

Before I continue, I want people to honestly think about what it would be like to be loved like this. Maybe just take one part, " it is not self-seeking". To have someone love us so much that they do not care about the consequences to themselves, but only what is best for us. Who will take the risk of saying or doing something that will forever banish their love from their life, but will do it anyway for their love's joy. Not just when they are dating, or on their honeymoon, but ALWAYS. I will stop there, but I would seriously encourage further reflection.

Humans are like Nalgene's, we have to be filled and refilled with love. We cannot simply give love, we have to get it from somewhere. Some people find it in fairly common things, other people. Some people find it in things not so conventional like pets for example. So everybody enters a relationship with a need, both parties. Now, this creates a problem for the "never self-seeking" part of love. What if the person you love does not return the love? Well, then, you go somewhere else for it. But where? To another person that needs love. But see, if everybody is a Nalgene, then eventually, everyone will run out, and we need to go to the eternal fresh water glacier that is God.

That's right. The only way to pour from our Nalgene into others without getting anything back, is to go to God. So before we say, "Till death do we part," you need access to the glacier, or you will just be leeching from your partner, and you will never be able to love them the way you really do want to love them: without the need for anything back from them. Think about it, if we could love without needing anything back, what would happen to divorce? Now, I know some people have been walked out on, my condolences. But if two people went into a relationship with the intention of only giving to their spouse, divorce would be unheard of.

But to get there we need Jesus Christ. You see, we have screwed up. We have worshiped other gods, sinned. We have all sinned. God gave us every good thing you can imagine for His glory. Food, drink, laughter, sex, relationships, music, art, literature, sports, EVERYTHING GOOD. but we have turned and worshiped them instead. We have sacrificed time, money, and everything else we could get our hands on to pleasing these false god. Just look at your average infatuated girl or football fan. We are worshiping false gods. Not to mention that little incident in the garden of Eden with the fruit (Genesis 3).

As a result, God, being a just God must punish us. But because He loved us, He sent His only Son, Jesus Christ, that the punishment that was due to us would fall on Him, so that we could be with Him again. We could talk to Him, walk with Him, and give our worship to Him, rather than sports cars, lite beer and naked people. After all, why wouldn't the Creator be more worthy than the things He created? So we confess that we have done wrong, and believe that Jesus Christ paid for everything we ever have or ever will do wrong, and we are hooked up with the eternal glacier.

Now, what's disappointing is those that have already claimed faith in Jesus Christ are just as bad as those who have not in the area of trying to be filled by other things than "the eternal freshwater glacier," but more on that later. So that is why loving people, TRULY loving your wife, your kids, your family, and your friends is impossible without Jesus Christ, in the most simple way I can explain it.

I hope to continue this, something of a series. So next time will be:

Protector or Predator: What kind of man are you?

(obviously more targeted at males, but girls, feel free to read!)