Love, love, love. I am going to date myself here but how many of you remember as I do, the musical group called the Beatles? If you were brave enough to say that you remembered the Beatles then you also remembered what a difficult time that was in our world and in the music of that day when this musical group from England invaded America. These 4 young men forever changed the world with their music. They wrote so many wonderful songs and many of those same songs are still being recorded by today’s artists. One song in particular that Paul McCartney and John Lennon wrote was a song called: All You Need Is Love; remember that one. One the verses in the song goes like this: “There’s nothing you can know that isn’t known, Nothing you can see that isn’t known, There’s nowhere you can be that isn’t where you’re meant to be it’s easy, All you need is love, All you need is love, All you need is love, love, Love is all you need.” Doesn’t that all sound just so real and wonderful? Doesn’t it also make you want to run out and put some flowers in your hair:) It did back then, right!!

Paul and John had it partly right when they said, all you need is love, but it was the wrong kind of love that they were singing about and the part where they said it was easy, isn’t true; not in our own strength at least.

Jesus said in John 13:34-35 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.” Jesus didn’t just stop there but He went on to say in Matthew 5:43-44 “You have heard that it was said, Love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”

People today have no problem hurting each other but sadly Christians are often found guilty of doing the very same thing. Yet, even though we are Christians, it’s still difficult for us to forgive those who hurt us, much less love them, right. Then telling us that we are to also love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us is just over the top for most of us. All of this just seems so impossible to do, right. What were you thinking Jesus, we would say. 

The only way as Christians that we are able to love as Jesus commanded us to love is when we understand that Jesus loved us first and He continues to love us with His unfailing love.  The Scripture that always gets to me is Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”  That’s not playing fair Lord we would say.  Lamentations 3:22-23 “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:32 “Though He brings grief, He will show compassion, so great is His unfailing love.”  

The times when I have decided to sin against the Lord, and that is exactly Who we sin against when we choose to sin folks, and I came to the Lord with a repentant heart, His unfailing love was right there ready to forgive me, heal me and spank me if needed.  So the moment I even begin to think of not extending Christlike unfailing love to someone because of what they may have done to me, the Holy Spirit quickly reminds me of that truth and it makes loving others easier.

The Beatles said that it all of this was easy but it all actuality it isn’t easy. For us to love others as the Lord loves us we must decide daily to die to ourselves and live to the Lord and many of us struggle doing just that, but as Jesus says in Mark 10:27 “All things are possible with God.”  

The love the Beatles were singing about was a human type of love which many believe that it’s a love we can somehow work up in our own strength and it will make everything just right. Please know that our human love will only take us so far and eventually it will fail us. God’s unfailing love never fails us and it will take us through any and all storms we may face in life and when expressed through our lives it will produce Godly fruit, which will touch the hearts of those who may not totally understand it but who will gladly welcome it.

So I ask you, have you loved anyone lately with the kind of unfailing love that the Lord has so been graciously and faithfully extending to you all this time? Look at what happened to you and I when we felt the Lord’s unfailing love touch our hearts. Now think how that same kind of unfailing love, expressed through our lives, will touch the hearts of others. Now go out and love someone today with the unfailing love of God; trust me, they are eagerly waiting for it because all they really need is His unfailing love!!