I recently got to thinking about how much LOVE plays a role in our daily lives in so many different aspects that make we humans so unique. For example:
Do you recall as a young child when you fell down and scraped your knee how much it hurt at the time, but when your Mom or Dad carried you into the house, put a little ointment on the scrape and placed that little Band-Aid on the wound, the pain started to melt away? Was the ointment and bandage the root causes for the reduction in the pain or was it the love that your Mom or Dad poured out on you, to comfort you, and told you it would be okay, that helped take your attention off the injury and helped you re-focus your circumstance? Yes, you were no longer concerned about the knee scrape and could press on with getting back out to play. Life would go on.
Or what about the time your boyfriend/girlfriend broke up with you? You felt the sorrow and heartbreak, the pain and anguish. But when your best friend (BFF) sought you out and comforted you, the emotional hurt began to subside. That hurt was being replaced with love from a close friend to help you understand that life would go on and you could re-focus on getting back out there. Love applied at the right time helped to take the hurt away.
We all have had a fair share of “knee scrapes” and “heartbreaks” in life, some more serious than others, but no one goes through life without them. And that’s where love, as the soothing ointment of life, becomes one of the greatest aspects of our human existence.
As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13: 4-7: Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things.
My interpretation of Paul’s message is that “love” can and should be applied to all circumstances of life to help each of us in our life journey. As such, love helps us all keep moving in the right direction, always towards the positive. For you see, love is an act of giving, not an act of taking. Love exudes patience with others no matter how long it takes. Love radiates kindness that one or more people see. Love helps to stoke the fire of Hope. Love is less about “me”, and more about “you”.
Love is ecstatic when Truth and Justice prevail to right a wrong. Love is the perpetual living force for faith, hope, and trust. For when you have love embracing your heart, mind, and soul, you can bring out the faith, hope, trust, and strength you need to endure your circumstances.
The soothing ointment of love brings solace to mend the brokenhearted and heal the emotional wounds, the disappointments, the failures, and the disasters of life. Love enables forgiveness to be offered and unforgiveness to never dwell in our hearts.
The love we have for someone else, as well as the love someone else has for us, is the uniquely human element that binds us all together as God’s children. Why else would Jesus tell His disciples; Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. [John 15:13]. We are all uniquely and wonderfully made by God and share in His love by sharing our love with one another.
God has given each of us a jar of “love ointment” to apply, as needed, to every situation and as frequently as necessary, to sooth life’s injuries and encourage us to keep moving forward in our life journeys. I pray that you will let love be your guide in helping others and yourself live life to the fullest in service to our Lord who loves each of us beyond measure.
Live, Learn, and Grow in Jesus.
Blessings,
Jerry
