He is more than enough

( Heres the unedited preview of the feature article for Jchron. this febuary.ü hope you guys like it. I learned from it a lot while i was writing it.. so i hope a lot of people will learn from this too! XD )

happy valentines, by the way. Enjoy.


Febuary: The month of love.
But really... what is love?
People these days tend to misinterpret what love really is. Some people view it as hurtful, sacrificial and one-way. A lot of others think of it as the mushy-yucky stuff. And to us Christians, this is the deep love that we have for God.
In almost every way, the world tries to teach us that everybody needs somebody. Through movies songs, tv shows, novels/books, or magazines, they ave convinced people that love is centered on and was made for "the couples".
But lets see how God defines it in 1 John 4:10:
"This is what real love is: It is not OUR LOVE FOR GOD; it is GOD'S LOVE FOR US in sending his Son to be the way to take away our sins."

Man's love can be so limited at times. As Christians, we try our best to show the love Christ wants us to show, the love that He perfected. Love that is not centered on things that would satisfy OUR needs, and OUR wants; but one that is selfless, a love that looks out for the welfare of others.
Once, a friend asked me to replace the word "love" from 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 with my name. But then, I just turned out to be a liar. The, she asked me to replace it again, but instead of using my name, I should use God or Jesus. - It made perfect sense!

Jesus exemplified genuine love. We have learned that we were made in the image and likeness of Christ. If we were made to BE like Christ, we should LOVE like Christ.
"We love beause He first loved us." - 1 Jn. 4:19
And since he loves us, we dont need the love or acceptance of anyone else. Because God's love is so great that it us more than we could ever need.

So rather than letting 1 Corinth. remind us of a love we cannot produce, let it remind us of a love that we need to follow, and one that we can simply cannot resist. - God's love.

Lets face it: God is crazy about you!
One of the sweetest reasons why He saved you is because He is fond of you. He likes having you around. If God had a picture of you, He'd carry it everywhere He went! He'd put one in His wallet, one stuck to the fridge door, one on His desk at the office... I bet there'd be even little hearts doodled all around your face!
He sends you flowers every spring and dedicates the sunrise to you every morning.When you talk, He listens. He is so rich and powerful, He can live anywhere in the world if he wanted to... in fact, He can live anywhere in the universe!

But He chose your heart.

Some of you crave for this kind of love.
Those who should've loved you didn't. Those who COULD have loved you didn't. You were left alone. Left with a broken heart. You were left asking youself: "Does anybody love me?"

Here's what I have learned from a book I am currently reading:
"God loves you. Powerfully. Passionately..."
as we have learned, love is a choice. And God chose to love us.
"Others have promised to "love forever" and have failed. But when God promised to "love forever" He meant it. He loves you with an unfailing love, and it is MORE THAN ENOUGH."

To close, lets see what Paul has to say in Ephesians 3:17-19:
"..and I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to fully understand how wide, how long, how high and how deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge- that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God."
A friend once texted me that love was so misunderstood that it should be called "the Ultimate Cliché."
As the verse says, may you have the power to fully understand God's love. And view it as more than just the lovy-dovy, mookie-mookie couple sort of thing. Nor see it as selfish, and hurtful. Rather, as something beautiful. Something to treasure. Something to share.

Love month may be almost over... But God's love never ends. It is so great that it overflows and we have more than enough. May we all learn to love the way jesus loved. And may we learn to share this love to others.ü

-references:
"A Gentle Thunder"
"Experiencing the Heart of Jesus" by Max Lucado
The Holy Bible.ü