Definitions of the word, “love”, are many and varied. But one common thread running through them is that the object of our love becomes the focus of life.

For a small boy a long time ago, love had nothing to do with warm fuzzies. It had everything to do with responsibility. No doubt there were days he didn’t even like his older sister; and would certainly never have confessed love for her. But when she was caught out in the back yard by the old red rooster, he found the courage to grab the pitchfork and skewer the attacking beast before it could rake her with those terrible two inch spurs.  

He quickly learned that deliberation is unnecessary when a loved one is under some threat.  Something rises up in the one who loves and inures him to danger as he defends the one who is the object of his devotion.

Loyalty and devotion seem to have been dropped from our understanding of love. More attention is given to feelings of warmth among individuals than to the bedrock commitments made at some sacred moment between them and God.

Each of our relationships must be founded on personal commitment rather than emotional response. Marriages that last are the ones not dependent on feelings. Friendships that endure are founded on a willingness to be a part of each other’s lives.

Go ahead. Take the risk. Commit yourself: to family, to friendship, to community, to church, to LOVE, to God!

Richard Orrell, Pastor