True Love

I Corinthians 13:13
And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.

I heard a definition of True Love the other day which has really been growing on me. It goes something like: "True Love is when I desire for others to become all that God created them to be."

And then I hear my pastor encouraging us to look at people the way they will be by God's Grace tomorrow. Asking ourselves, "What does God want to do in them? What does He want to do through them?" And by extension, asking God what He wants to do in us and through us to help make that happen. For by loving them truly, we allow God to work through us to reach them — we come closer to what God created us to be. For God has created all of us and blessed us, to be a blessing to others. Faith in action through Love producing Hope.

True Love is when the Love of God is working through me unfiltered, unadulterated, raw, selfless and passionate. True Love is when my desires line up with God's desires. All God ever wants is for me to aspire to what He created me to be. That is the way He loves me and the way I am to love others.

When I look at my neighbors the way they will be by God's Grace tomorrow, I have True Faith. When I use God's Love given to me this morning to help my neighbor grow closer to what God wants them to be this afternoon, I have True Love. And as I love with His Love, I can't help but grow closer to what He intends for me and my tomorrow.

There is great Hope in that. How great too, the coming Joy.