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Recently I read a article written by William Willimon, who presently the Professor of the Practice of Christian Ministry at Duke University, which is titled It Takes Three To Love. Because of Valentine’s Day, we tend to associate the month of February as the month of love, so I thought it fitting to share it with you as food for thought. He writes:
In marriage, in the church, in any of our human relation-
ships, we do not believe that love is all we need. Our love
tends to be short-term, fickle, changeable. What we need
is something which keeps us close to people, even when
they are difficult, even when we are difficult. We need
to work at our marriage even when we don’t feel like
it. So, we Christians tend to stress things like fidelity and
commitment more than we stress love.
The person who says, “The Christian faith can be summed
up in just three words, ‘God is love,’ hasn’t quite got it right.
God is not only love, certainly not as we often use that slippery
word. God is commitment, faithfulness, even when we are
not faithful. So, the Old Testament frequently speaks, not just
about the love of God, but the steadfast love of God. It is not
a deep feeling which makes love Christian, but long-term en-
durance.
And we believe that it is impossible for mere mortals like
us to stay faithful and committed on our own. Se we ask God’s
blessing upon our marriages and all our loving relationships.
Love is a gift of God, not a human achievement. So we ask
that we be given the grace to love one another as God has loved
each of us in Christ—completely, committedly, forever. Love is
not all you need. You need God—loving you, forgiving you,
judging and correcting you, enabling you to pick up and start
over, giving you the humility to see how difficult you are to love,
thus making it easier for you to love someone else and their
faults. Love is a gift of God.
It takes three to love. It takes someone to offer love, someone
to receive it. It also takes God.
ships, we do not believe that love is all we need. Our love
tends to be short-term, fickle, changeable. What we need
is something which keeps us close to people, even when
they are difficult, even when we are difficult. We need
to work at our marriage even when we don’t feel like
it. So, we Christians tend to stress things like fidelity and
commitment more than we stress love.
The person who says, “The Christian faith can be summed
up in just three words, ‘God is love,’ hasn’t quite got it right.
God is not only love, certainly not as we often use that slippery
word. God is commitment, faithfulness, even when we are
not faithful. So, the Old Testament frequently speaks, not just
about the love of God, but the steadfast love of God. It is not
a deep feeling which makes love Christian, but long-term en-
durance.
And we believe that it is impossible for mere mortals like
us to stay faithful and committed on our own. Se we ask God’s
blessing upon our marriages and all our loving relationships.
Love is a gift of God, not a human achievement. So we ask
that we be given the grace to love one another as God has loved
each of us in Christ—completely, committedly, forever. Love is
not all you need. You need God—loving you, forgiving you,
judging and correcting you, enabling you to pick up and start
over, giving you the humility to see how difficult you are to love,
thus making it easier for you to love someone else and their
faults. Love is a gift of God.
It takes three to love. It takes someone to offer love, someone
to receive it. It also takes God.
Blessings to each of you and may you always rejoice in knowing that nothing can separate us from God’s love.
Pastor Kurt+
Pastor Kurt+
