I was blessed with an opportunity to share this with someone that I care a great deal about last Saturday night and would like to share it with each of you now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HdiVQuC1Dc 

The link to the clip above is from the 1995 movie Don Juan Demarco starring Johnny Depp and Marlon Brando.  The statement that is made symbolizes the love that is available for each of us from our Heavenly Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Furthermore, it brings to the surface a belief that I have had for many years now.  Love is more than just an expression.  Love is more than just an action.  Love, in its purest form, is light.

I wrote some months ago a series of blogs dealing with the premise that Love is a Choice.  Looking back, I don't know if those frantic attempts to express what God has firmly established within my heart made sense to anyone other than me.  My concern, obviously, is that it didn't.  The concept of love is so entrenched in all that I do and believe that it is easy for me to live this life that I have been called to live but something all together different to explain....

Quotes from movies, books and the Bible describe what I feel, believe and live but sometimes struggle to put into words.  From the clip, we hear that love is sacred, love is what the Spirit is made of and that love is worth living and dying for.  If you look at those four statements, presented in the form of a question, I believe that most Christians will recognize the relationship between the statement and Christ.  Furthermore, I believe that most Christians would agree that we are all called to share this message of love, or the "Good News" of Christ to those who don't know or don't believe.  But more than that, I believe that we are all called to live out this statement.  When I say that, what I mean is more than just telling the people in our life that we love them or acting upon this emotion by buying them flowers or cards, although that is certainly appropriate at times (sorry David).  It is giving to them the very essence of who you are, who you were created to be and your feelings for them, to them.  When you turn the light on in a dark room, assuming the power has not failed or the bulb has not burned out, there is little doubt that the light is on.  Jesus used this same metaphor in his parable concerning Salt and Light (Matthew 5:13-16).  When you freely and without expectations give the essence of who you are to someone else, as Christ did, there is little doubt of the love that shines through.

"Love is patient, love is kind.  It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres."  (1 Corinthians 13:4-7)

Your Heavenly Father, through Christ, gives this love to you - freely.  If you don't know about this love, and would like to learn what it is all about, please contact me.  If you do know this love, praise God.  I humbly ask you, my brothers and sisters in Christ, to give this love - this essence of who you are - to the extent that you are capable, to those in your life.  In doing so, the words written by the Apostle Paul, take meaning and shape and in the end, resonate within their hearts.

"Love never fails." (1 Corinthians 13:8)

Your brother in Christ,

Jim