L.O.V.E. \u2013 We talk about this little word with big underlying principals often. We all have thought about its implications on our lives, and more often than not, this word is one that is thrown around without consequence. For example, I\u2019ll readily say that I love <\/i>coffee, the same way I love <\/i>books and movies. This week, I have started to rekindle my reverence for the word, and have seen where my thoughts have taken me.<\/p>\n
Throughout my short life, I\u2019ve seen love defined a number of different ways. It\u2019s attributed to anything from a parent, movie, clothing item, or plate of pasta. We all recognize the difference between the lighter loves to the richer emotions and actions, however the ways in which we define LOVE <\/i>in its purest form may be in need of attention. In a search for meaning and belonging, I\u2019ve seen falsified versions of love used as a cheap substitute for a deeper craving. We can look to other people, entertainment, academic or career success, or a number of other things to try and gain acceptance and a taste of this love we are all designed to crave. I, like countless others have come to a point where I have to form my own beliefs about this \u2013 and in reflecting on this lately, I\u2019ve boiled down my thoughts to words.<\/p>\n
Love is clearly a force that comes from a place separate from selfishness and imperfection. We crave it because we know it is good, and we need it in order to be fulfilled. Love is bigger than us, perfect, and the greatest thing we can experience in this life. Saying all of this, let me clarify: GOD = LOVE. He created everything, and is goodness and perfection defined. He embodies and sets the standard for love and all things good.<\/p>\n
Knowing this, it\u2019s clear to me that, because God shows love perfectly, no lasting bit can be found without Him in it. Since we are made in His image, we are designed to love Him and others. Our desires point us back to Him, who made us to want Him in His goodness. He is jealous for our commitment to Him, because He wants the best for us \u2013 and He is the very best.<\/p>\n
All this said, there are many ways of experiencing His love. Lately, I\u2019ve been increasingly aware of His love displayed in the littlest things \u2013 pristine skies, a gust of wind, a delicious bite of food, or a gorgeous song. Beyond these, I\u2019ve been frankly overwhelmed with the way God show His love through the people in my life. He\u2019s given me a dream family, the best of friends and an insanely wonderful boyfriend who are all dedicated to the Kingdom, and excel at letting the Creator\u2019s love flow through everything that they do. Each element of this creation He deemed \u201cgood\u201d is a cause for thankfulness and a way to experience the Creator. All good things point back to Him, and there is so much good to be found.<\/p>\n
With that, I am pushed once again to really love<\/i> and show reverence for this act. When I push away anything that keeps me from loving and experiencing this love, God just steps in and does His thing \u2013 and it is astonishing. He wants us to experience and give out His love, and seeing as no one can sum up my mind better than Mr. C.S. Lewis, I\u2019ll leave you with his words:<\/p>\n
\u201cIn God there is no hunger that needs to be filled, only plenteousness that desires to give.\u201d<\/p>\n
Friends, I\u2019ll see you next time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
L.O.V.E. \u2013 We talk about this little word with big underlying principals often. We all have thought about its implications on our lives, and more often than not, this word is one that is thrown around without consequence. For example, I\u2019ll readily say that I love coffee, the same way I love books and movies. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-655","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aubrey-macmillan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.calbaptist.edu\/lancerdiaries\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/655","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.calbaptist.edu\/lancerdiaries\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.calbaptist.edu\/lancerdiaries\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.calbaptist.edu\/lancerdiaries\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.calbaptist.edu\/lancerdiaries\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=655"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.calbaptist.edu\/lancerdiaries\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/655\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.calbaptist.edu\/lancerdiaries\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=655"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.calbaptist.edu\/lancerdiaries\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=655"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.calbaptist.edu\/lancerdiaries\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=655"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}