How Is Love The Answer?

'What?' you say. What kind of person would question if love is the answer? What a funny title and one would think, just in passing, that I am not advocating loving one another. But what I desire to question is what love is the answer and our use of love. 

Love is something that we all desire, we all need and what fuels us to survive the harsh cruelties of humanity. But we tend to use love to our own personal advantage. We position it in ways that will benefit us and uphold us instead of seeing love for the all-around truth that it holds. Yes, love is a choice and it is a command of God to love one another as ourselves. But, what if we don't truly love ourselves? Where then will we get the love to give to others? There's no well of love to draw from and whatever we have will soon be dried up by friendships and people just being human. 

So, where do we go from here? 

God showed me several summers ago (and I believe this wholeheartedly to this day) that we, as we are cannot love ANYONE in our own capacity. A surface love, yes. Maybe even a love that we believe to be deep and abiding. But, what happens to that love when hurt and tragedy invade? If we are operating out of our own capacity to love we will BE hurt and will remain hurt. If we don't rely FULLY on God to help us love one another, then our intention is just another ticking time bomb waiting to go off in our hearts. 

We must ask God to give us the love that is possible to love one another. Through that love only can we love each other for who others really are, not for who we want them to be. The greater challenge is to go beyond just loving one another, but to intentionally love those who we consider to be our enemies. It is easy to love those around us that we consider to be friends. It takes much more prayer, dedication and commitment to ask God for the love to give to our enemies. But, God instructs us to do just that. "But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you" Matthew 5:44 (NIV). 

We must acknowledge love has many dimensions and if we as believers in Christ do not accept love as the total teaching that Christ intended, then we are using God's word to fit our lifestyle and not allowing it to BE our lifestyle. 

So, how is love the answer? Human love, I don't believe to be the answer. God, who IS love himself, is the only answer. If we look to Him and intentionally ask Him to give us the love necessary for other people, then we can love beyond our human capacity and can have a love that is lasting. It doesn't sway with time or circumstances. It endures. God's love is the answer.