Love, Love, Love, Love, Love

The tune to Steven Curtis Chapman's song "All About Love" are going through my head this morning. I haven't heard the song in a while, but I've heard about love all weekend. Not man's love. God's love.
God's love is an awesome thing. And just as the song says, it is all about love. We had Bible School Day on Saturday at our church. And I was one of the teachers that took the kids on a treasure hunt to find out what God's love is all about.
Here are the key points:

1. God's love is giving - He gave us His own Son
2. God's love is kind - Jesus healed the sick and raised the dead because He felt compassion for people
3. God's love is caring - Jesus went to the Samaritan woman despite the fact that she was a woman of a different race with a smutty reputation
4. God's love is forgiving - Jesus went to Zaccheus though he was a thief despised by all the people
5. God's love is forever - Though Jesus died on the cross, He rose again, and He will reign for all of eternity, and those of us who accept His gift of salvation will live forever

The kids really seemed to learn a lot. They were a great bunch to teach. I hated when the lessons were over. But the kids weren't the only ones being taught. I did a lot of self-examination.
We are to love as Christ loves us. I was convicted at the first lesson. I know I don't give as much of myself as I should. I selfishly hold things back. I don't fully show God's love to those around me.
Then you get to the part where love is kind. I don't know about you, but there have definitely been many times where I gave up opportunities to show kindness.
And, I haven't been as caring as I should be. I tend to lean towards the judgmental side at times. I'll think to myself, Well, that guy doesn't deserve God's love, he's a druggie. Or I think, That girl has slept with every man in the state of NC, she could never deserve salvation.
The thing is that those people do deserve salvation just as much as I do. Jesus loves all of us. He died on the cross for ALL sins. So I am no better than the hooker on the street corner. I really need to learn to care more for people's souls rather than judge people's outer appearances.
I also need to learn to be forgiving. Christ has forgiven me of all my sins. I'm definitely nowhere near as perfect as Christ, so what right do I have to hold sins over anyone's head? I have no right at all.
The last one is the hardest one I think. We are to have God's forever kind of love. Sure that's easy enough with our family and friends. But we are to love those people that intentionally hurt us. And we are to love them forever, no matter how many times they cause us pain. That's a tough thing to do, but it is what Christ commanded us to do.
After a weekend of learning about this, my daily verse today was John 15:12, "This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you."
I think God's trying to tell me something. So I'm gonna share this challenge with you. Get out there and love, love, love, love, love. And when it seems too hard, love more and more!