Young Love
I have performed a lot of weddings recently, which means I've spent a great deal of time with couples, young and very much in love. Do you remember those days? Spending countless hours on the phone together, thinking nothing of going miles out of your way, hoping for some unexpected time together? Spending more than you could afford on a date, dinner, or a gift because your thoughts are consumed with them even when you are apart?
Love is like that. It transforms our thoughts, actions, and words, expressing care for another in a manner we never imagined possible. Though the initial rush of emotions may temper over time, hopefully, love continues to grow, deepen, and mature.
Though many have tried, there is enough mystery surrounding the experience of romantic love that it is almost indescribable. Poetry, stories, and songs have been written about falling in love from the beginning of recorded history. Even the term "Falling in Love" expresses a sense that it is an experience beyond our control as lives tumble together haphazardly.
Though that description may help explain some of the tumults of the euphoric emotions one can expect to experience, it doesn't fully describe what occurs. New York Times bestselling author Bob Goff suggests that the phrase "falling in love" is an inadequate description of what happens when we genuinely love.
He says,
"None of us really fall in love, we simply stop making everything about ourselves, and love floods into the space selfishness leaves behind."
When our attention is diverted from ourselves and directed toward another, love is experienced by each. This explains why service and care of others are such joyful experiences for both the one serving and the one being served.
Self-absorption prevents the genuine experience of the love that God has ordained. The writer of 1 John summarizes the nature of Christian love well, writing,
"Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us, and his love is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit."
I John 4:11-13
We are approaching the giving season, and opportunities abound for us to divert our attention from ourselves and focus on those around us. The beauty of it all is that, ultimately, we are the ones who receive the more profound joy when we create the space for God's love to enter. Seek opportunities to divert your attention toward others and prepare for the love to flood in.
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Dan Kreiss, RPC’s Associate Pastor for Mission Outreach, brings with him a heart for service and a diverse array of experiences in the mission field. Be sure to subscribe to the Mission Outreach Blog to read and follow along as he documents his personal journey and shares his vision for RPC’s mission outreach commitment. Along with providing meaningful resources, this blog will help jumpstart the important conversations our church community must be having about missional living.
Dan Kreiss
Rev. Dr. Dan Kreiss is the Associate Pastor for Mission Outreach at RPC. Dan is particularly passionate about encouraging the church to reflect the diversity found in its surrounding community in regard to age, gender, ethnicity, education and economic status.