the Morning Jog: Let Love Rule

What does it mean for you and how does it make you feel to experience genuine love? We all realize by now that love is more than just saying the words, ‘I love you’. Real love is proving it day in and day out. The more I experience doing this life-thing with Christ, the more I realize there is a difference between loving someone and being in-love with them.

I love chicken strips (…can I get a witness?)
But I am in-love with my wife.

This is a trivial example, but I have come to the determination in my own life that I need to prioritize what I simply love and what I’m in-love with. If we don’t take the time to do this, our passions are going to spiral out of control.

Jesus Christ loved His mother. He made sure at Calvary that she was looked after and cared for. He loved her…but He was in-love with His calling and purpose.
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. . .” It must have pained Him also to know He was going to experience a separation from His earthly family by fulfilling what He came here to do, but He was in-love with his eternal mission.

(Butterfly's - Forest Hill, MD)

I’m afraid that many have become focused on the wrong things. We have allowed the things we ‘love’ to take the place of what we should be ‘in-love’ with. It is such a selfish way to live yet we humans have a fleshly nature that desires to be pleased. Flesh says, “You love success. It’s dog-eat-dog and you must give and do, then give and do more…then give and do some more.” Before long, we become so consumed in doing that we forget who we are and what we were created for.

Christ experienced plenty of temptation that tried to distract His focus. Satan tried to entice Him with offers of…‘If you would only…then I will give you this.’ The enemy showed up when Christ was at His weakest, but He held firm to the path because He was so…in-love.

(Gravel Road - Forest Hill, MD)

When you choose your companion for life, it sometimes doesn’t matter what anyone else tells you. They might say, “Don’t do it. You’re crazy. Have you lost your mind?” But you are so in-love, nothing else matters. If we were honest with ourselves, as time passes by, things get in the way, and we get to where we simply love them and are no longer in-love.

Has the line blurred between loving and being in-love? Is your relationship with Christ still filled with freshness and the spark it once held? Many of us need to fall in-love with life again. We need to fall in-love with our mission…in-love with our companion and family, and most importantly…in-love with Christ. Because if you are, ‘you’ll keep His commandments.’