Pastor Jim
by Pastor Jim Beilstein, Peace Luthern Church -
February 26, 2010
"What is Love?"
February is the love month. Love is the center of conversation and that is a good thing except the definition of love can be confusing. Our world would have us believe that love is a feeling that magically appears.
I was watching the movie "Pearl Harbor" last night and Danny, one of the leading men, tells his best friend that he just fell in love and he could not help it. The only trouble was that Danny fell in love with his best friend's girl. Now the movie portrays Danny as a great guy and his romance is theoretically sound due to several circumstances that occur. But since he could not help falling in love, it seems to me his love was probably more lust than love.
Love is a conscious decision and the loving feelings come from performing acts of love. One of the greatest acts of love ever recorded was not an act performed to enhance romantic love but an act of a servant's love.
"Jesus got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist, and poured water into a basin. Then he began to wash the disciples" feet, drying them with the towel he had around him. When Jesus came to Simon Peter, Peter said to him, "Lord, are you going to wash my feet?" Jesus replied, "You don't understand now what I am doing, but someday you will." "No," Peter protested, "you will never ever wash my feet!" (John 13:3-11, NLT)
In the culture at the time of Jesus, it was the lowest servant's task to wash the feet of those present at a meal. A self respecting Jewish Rabbi would never wash the feet of others but that is exactly what Jesus Christ did for his disciples. No wonder Peter protested this act of feet washing which was beneath Jesus' status.
Later as the disciples understood that it was actually God who washed their feet, we can only imagine the love they must have felt for Jesus their God and Savior.
Jesus loves us and asks us to reflect his love to others by performing acts of love. Through Jesus we actually make a decision to love others and to perform kind and loving acts.
I pray that during the month of February we would all make an extra effort to perform loving acts for others and experience all that the love of Jesus has in store for us.
February is the love month. Love is the center of conversation and that is a good thing except the definition of love can be confusing. Our world would have us believe that love is a feeling that magically appears.
I was watching the movie "Pearl Harbor" last night and Danny, one of the leading men, tells his best friend that he just fell in love and he could not help it. The only trouble was that Danny fell in love with his best friend's girl. Now the movie portrays Danny as a great guy and his romance is theoretically sound due to several circumstances that occur. But since he could not help falling in love, it seems to me his love was probably more lust than love.
Love is a conscious decision and the loving feelings come from performing acts of love. One of the greatest acts of love ever recorded was not an act performed to enhance romantic love but an act of a servant's love.
"Jesus got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist, and poured water into a basin. Then he began to wash the disciples" feet, drying them with the towel he had around him. When Jesus came to Simon Peter, Peter said to him, "Lord, are you going to wash my feet?" Jesus replied, "You don't understand now what I am doing, but someday you will." "No," Peter protested, "you will never ever wash my feet!" (John 13:3-11, NLT)
In the culture at the time of Jesus, it was the lowest servant's task to wash the feet of those present at a meal. A self respecting Jewish Rabbi would never wash the feet of others but that is exactly what Jesus Christ did for his disciples. No wonder Peter protested this act of feet washing which was beneath Jesus' status.
Later as the disciples understood that it was actually God who washed their feet, we can only imagine the love they must have felt for Jesus their God and Savior.
Jesus loves us and asks us to reflect his love to others by performing acts of love. Through Jesus we actually make a decision to love others and to perform kind and loving acts.
I pray that during the month of February we would all make an extra effort to perform loving acts for others and experience all that the love of Jesus has in store for us.
