Keith Moore, Pastor of Faith Life Church teaches that as Christians, we should be more mindful of how we use the word love. He said that we’re not supposed to say we love food, clothes, music and such, but that we enjoy them. We should love people and enjoy things. But far too often I hear people say they love pizza, purses, and all types of things they can purchase. Those same people will even often boast of how they love someone. They’ll say things like, “I just love so-and-so celebrity” or “I just love that about them!” Whenever I hear that, I immediately wonder if they really do or if they’re just saying that. I think what they really meant to say is that they like or admire a certain characteristic they possess. And though they’re probably using the words “I love” because it’s the popular thing to say, their mind and spirit may have a hard time differentiating between the two and begin to think, “Oh, we love them?” which could result in some sort of emotional or romantic attachment. This is why if you’re not careful, you can confuse adoration, admiration and appreciating someone with being in love. Just because you find an endearing or adorable characteristic about someone, doesn’t necessarily mean you’re in love. And if you’d train yourself to watch how you use the word love, your heart will follow.
“Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.” Proverbs 4:23
Because I’ve very protective, I don’t play when it comes to love. So much so, that I don’t even use the word love loosely. You won’t catch me saying things like, “I love cereal” or “I love crunchy foods.” Though I really like and enjoy eating them, it isn’t love. But because I’m so serious about it, when I hear people frequently say they love someone, I know immediately they don’t take love seriously. I also know that if they’re single, they probably fall in and out of love easily. Why do I say that? Because they don’t even take the word seriously so how can they possibly take the person seriously? Because they use the term so loosely, love means nothing to them. Not at least the way God intended. And because they don’t, when they say they’re in love, they’re probably not which means the relationship won’t last. Why? Because it was never love. They liked or adored something about that person, but they never loved that person in totality. How do I know? Because 1 Corinthians 13:8 says, “LOVE NEVER FAILS.” REAL LOVE lasts. QUICK, I-LOVE-EVERYBODY-KINDA-LOVE, doesn’t. And though Jesus requires us to ‘love the brethren’, He doesn’t require us to do it in the way most do today. Because if we did, we’d end up like most do, and that’s with our hearts in our hands. So do yourself a favor and be mindful of how you use the word love so that you’ll be more mindful of who you say it to, and even more importantly, who says it to you.
Pray this with me: Heavenly Father, please forgive me for not taking love seriously. You are love. So, I don’t want to throw that word or You around loosely. Please help me to pay attention to how I use the one word that describes You. In Jesus’ name.
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