A lot of our girls (and guys) struggle with love. The word and the actions that are associated with the word. Whether it has been misused in the past orthey arrived at the worldly conclusions themselves by nature of being human, they (we) have gotten things mixed up. So on this post-valentine's day, I'd like to take a minute to talk about what real love, Godly love, looks like. 

 LOVE OBEYS

"If you love me, you will obey My commands" John 14:15

Godly love obeys. this means that even if your mom gets on your last nerve asking you for the millionth time to clean your room, you do it because you love her. Same way with God. Even if what He is asking you to do is the last thing in the world you want to do, if you love Him you will OBEY.

LOVE SACRIFICES

"Greater love has no man than would lay down his life for a friend" John 15:13

Sacrificial love means you give up things that you see as yours in order that someone will benefit. Love means being willing to do whatever is required for the one that you love. The other key to sacrifice is that it must be voluntary. "laying down a life" is an act of submission that no one can force upon you.

 LOVE CORRECTS

"For whom the Lord loves he corrects, even as a father corrects the son in whom he delights" Proverbs 3:12

Being corrected isn't fun. I look back on decisions I've made in the past though and I wish that someone had corrected me before I made some of the choices that had a negative impact on my life and my witness. Our pastor said that you need to have people in your life that love Jesus more than they love you. Probably because those are the people that will call you out when you're about to do something dumb.

LOVE REVEALS

"By this all men shall know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another" John 13:35

Love is hard, maybe that's why God says that people will know that we are Christ followers if we love each other. Because there is simply no other way that we could love the way that we are called than through the knowledge of the love that God showered on us. Love reveals your character (who you are) and your maker (whose you are)

LOVE FORGIVES

"Above all things, have intense and unfailing love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins" 1 Peter 4:8

Peter was a guy who knew a thing or two about sin and love being enough to cover those sins. Peter was the same one who denied Christ when it got hard. He was also the same one who God gently restored and charged with leading His church. Love has to look beyond the sin and see the person in order to forgive them.

What would it look like to have a love like this? I think it would look like Christ. What I want for our girls is for them to really get what love is, maybe then we would all be less likely to use the word and the actions associated with it before we could commit to all of the above.

Amy Leggett, Office Manager