A Different Kind of Love

​This Saturday is Valentine’s Day. There will be plenty of chocolate, cards, flowers, and dinners as people celebrate being “in love.” But for others Valentine’s Day brings a time of sadness as people ponder about what was, or what never came to be.

That tension reminds us of something important: love, for all its beauty, is also challenging. We all want it. We need it. We’ll spend time, money, and energy chasing it and sometimes, as the song says, we end up “looking for love in all the wrong places.”

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus spoke directly into this struggle. Love, He said, is meant to be one of the defining marks of Kingdom people.  In Jesus’ day, it was common to love those who loved you back—and to mistreat those who didn’t. Honestly, not much has changed in 2,000 years.

Jesus acknowledged that reality and then raised the bar: “Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. Pray for those who mistreat you.”

That kind of love sounds impossible—until we remember who is ultimately in charge.

Bishop Desmond Tutu was once asked how he managed to live out Jesus’ teaching. He replied,
“I hold on, and often only by the skin of my teeth, to believe that God is in charge of His world, in spite of all appearances to the contrary.”

This Sunday, we’ll talk about how you and I can practically live out Jesus’ radical call to love:

• Doing more than expected. Refusing to retaliate in anger. Go the extra mile.
• Speaking words of grace rather than curses. Or gossip. Or stabbing in the back.
• Choosing each day to live large by trusting that God sees, God knows, and God will make things right in His time. 

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Love is hard.  But hate, bitterness, and revenge are harder. Hate ruins your relationships, damages you emotionally. Leaves you empty spiritually. Hurts you physically.

Jesus knew exactly what He was saying when He taught that His people would be known by their love.

I hope you’ll join us this Sunday as we explore what it means to live, and love, like Kingdom people.

Grace & Peace,
Pastor Mike 

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