All We Need Is Love

"Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging symbol.
2 And though I have the gift of prophesy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.
4 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up;
5 Does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil;
6 Does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth;
7 Bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8 Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away.
9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part.
10 But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away.
11 When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.
13 And now abide in faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these IS LOVE."

1 Corinthians Chapter 13

"Love--it is the only rational act."
--Stephen Levine

“Love is the only way to grasp another human being in the innermost core of his personality.”
--Victor Frankl

There is the old saying, "If you love something let it go. If it comes back to you, you know it loves you, too."

Love and let love. Let go and let GOD.

The hardest thing for us humans to do is love, even though it should be the most natural thing for us to do. Love is God, therefore it is impossible for us to love in its purest form, because we are not God. To forgive is human, to forget is Divine. No matter what we do to God, He will not only forgive us, but He will forget our transgressions, as long as our hearts and souls genuinely long for it. However, I am not sure if He forgets before or after we enter the gates of heaven.

We may please another by providing he or she with the necessary means of life--shelter, food, protection. We may also please another with gifts, both big and small. But where our LOVE is for them resides within the work we do to obtaining the needs and gifts. We love each other by peeling, slicing, and boiling the potatoes. We love each other by washing, seasoning, and cooking the meat. We love each other by getting in our car, driving to the store, and purchasing the items that will nurse our counterpart back to good health. We love each other by folding the laundry so that our counterpart does not have to. We love each other by washing the dishes so that our counterpart does not have to. We love each other by taking a trip we do not want to take, because we want to keep our love one safe, secure, and entertained. We love each other by handing over the remote control, and watching the program the person opposite of us wants to watch.

All of these acts are acts of service for another. Because we know God loves us by serving us, we know that we love God when we serve Him, and likewise, we can know we love each other by serving each other. But be very mindful of how you are serving that person, because love can only exist if God is present--and God is not present in wicked ways. If someone desires drugs, it is not an act of love to go get them drugs. If someone wants to watch a movie or television program that strays the mind, it is not an act of love to give them access to that material. If your boyfriend or girlfriend--not spouse--wants to feel the pleasure of intercourse, it is not an act of love to perform intercourse with them. There are innumerable ways to love someone, and there are innumerable ways to think you are loving someone. But the only way to truly LOVE someone is to bring them closer to God, with the help of GOD.

That is why a family that prays together stays together. Praying is LOVE. Asking God to protect someone, nourish someone, heal someone--that is LOVE. When we begin praying more for others than we do for ourselves, that is when LOVE will reign supreme, and all the earth will be happy and rejoice.

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE...it is the ONLY rational act.

Love and GOD Forever,
Anthony Paul