Happy Valentines Day Everyone!!! I wanted to be sure to send you this amazing message about love from my dear friend Melissa! In the next few posts you’re going to read about, you guessed it, LOVE. Not the commercialized version of love and gifts we see on the store shelves. No, I’m talking about the real deal- love in it’s greatest forms. So to kick-us off, I’ve invited Melissa to share her thoughts on love. I have long admired her wisdom and strength and heart of service. I know you will be inspired by her too. Friends, my hope is for each one of you to be encouraged, challenged, and active with the love you can share with this world! -Liz 

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I was asked by Liz to be a guest blogger and she said I could talk about love. Now I thought that is going to be easy because love is an easy topic; there is so much to say about love. But after mulling it over several days, it feels that love is not so easy after all.

For those that know the Bible, there is a whole chapter dedicated to love. “Love is patient, love is kind, love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.” (1 Corinthians 13: 4-7 NLT). Phew! That was a mouthful. And if we were honest with ourselves, some days it feels like love is exhausting and love is overwhelming.

I want to show love; I really do. I repeat this scripture over and over in my head especially when I’m dealing with a difficult situation. I remind myself, “You must be kind. Stop wanting your own way. Please don’t get irritable!” I find myself busily putting little check marks on my love checklist ready to feel satisfied once I’ve marked every action complete in this love chapter. But before I know it, I have turned love into a task instead of a way of life.

The checklist doesn’t apply just in difficult situations though; unfortunately, the checklist has also applied in the purest of desires to find a way to change the world. State Farm has summed this up very well. Yes, you read that right, State Farm. About a year or so ago they aired a commercial titled “Following”. It begins with a man on the subway seeing a wall advertisement to adopt a pet. Immediately he turns to his side and sees a cute, little white dog that begins to follow him. The man’s computer screen displays an ad to help a veteran and then a tv to be a mentor to a child. The shot pans out to a following of vets, homeless people, children, and animals behind a weary man everywhere he goes. With the hand of a child on his shoulder, the man chooses to make one small decision to walk into a community mentoring center; and just like that the following is gone.

The commercial wasn’t about getting rid of the weariness of love but rather show that one small action, turning a checklist into a lifestyle, can release that burden of love. Love does not place the responsibility of changing the world on your shoulders but rather it is allows Christ to use one small action from an honest heart to have a ripple effect in the world. There is no burden, no task, and no brownie points to be earned. Love is just love and oh how amazing love is. –Melissa

Melissa lives in Southern Colorado with her family. She is a Forensic Chemist by day, but she prefers to spend her free time riding elephants, swimming with the piranhas, and serving those in need:).