What is authentic love? In Love as a Way of Life, Gary Chapman defines authentic love “as something within our capabilities, originating in our attitudes and culminating in our actions.” Love is more than a feeling, love is an action. It has to do with what we do! How good are we doing loving others? Thankfully we can’t give you a pass or fail grade, but if you are like me, I’m hoping to ramp my love life up. I want to be much better at showing and expressing love by the time we are finished with The Love Project. One thing to think about is that once we’ve begun, there really is no end to the Love Project, until we pass from this life to the next. Once we know what we can do and what is available when we do make love a way of life, there will be no turning back. We’ll want to live this way for all the days of our life. Authentic love is not based on how circumstances are going, or even the response of those you show love toward. Authentic love is love without conditions. We rejoice in loving others, whether they reciprocate or not. This sounds pretty radical. Our flesh says, I’ll love you if you love me back. I’ll rub your back if you rub mine. I’ll answer sweetly if you speak sweetly to me. This is just opposite of the love that Jesus demonstrated while He was on the earth. His kind of love is, turn the other cheek love. You tell lies about me, I’ll still bless you. You kill me (Jesus talking!) I’ll ask my Father to forgive you, because you don’t know what you are doing. That is radical love! Do we have the capacity for that? We really do! God has shed His love abroad in our hearts so that we can love with genuine, authentic, unconditional love. Let’s let that same love from God begin to change us from the inside out. He loves us, so we can love others.
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