Pursuing the Presence: Love

In the last 2 years since becoming a father, one of the most important things I've learned is this:

The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference.

Many of the most damaged parent-child relationships are a result of the parent's absence or neglect. God didn't show us his love by simply not punishing us for sin. He displayed his love by sacrificing himself to give us life. Love is never indifferent.

I desperately want to grow in this truth. Sure, I can't sacrifice myself or my time for every person in the world, my city, or even my neighborhood. I just don't have that capacity. But what about those I'm called to love? Am I living the sacrificial love that is never indifferent?

Think through the people in your life. Family...friends...acquaintances...maybe even somebody you pass on the street but have never met. Who is in need of a love that is not indifferent?

Take that image, take those people, and think of them as you pray these words....

Scripture

"Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children. Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God."
-Ephesians 5:1 (NLT)

Prayer

Make me an almoner to give thy bounties to the indigent, comfort to the mentally ill, restoration to the sin-diseased, hope to the despairing, joy to the sorrowing, love to the prodigals.

Fill the garden of my soul with the wind of love, That the scents of the Christian life may be wafted to others; Then come and gather fruits to thy glory.

So shall I fulfill the great end of my being— To glorify thee and be a blessing to men.

- Puritan prayer, author unknown

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Evan Smith

is a Pastor currently living in Phoenix, AZ. He majored in New Testament Studies at Ozark Christian College. Born and raised in Texas, he grew up the third-born of 7 kids and loved (almost) every minute of it! He is happily married to his high school sweetheart, Breanna, and has two wonderful kids, Hannah Joy and Peter. More than anything, Evan wants to be a man who is marked by a hunger for God.

“The God who came, still comes. The God who spoke, still speaks.”

Evan's Website