I heard my human talking about the news last night.
Seems there were two people who climbed the Empire State Building and hung some banner with some words about love that I couldn’t quite make out.
Then my human picked up his Bible and read words that sounded even better than that banner.
“Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”
- John 15:13
And then he jumped over to 1 Corinthians 13 where it says “Love is patient, love is kind… and the greatest of these is love.”
That’s not made for TV movie love.
That’s cross love.
That’s nail-scarred love.
That’s empty-tomb love.
It seems like every year about this time somebody hangs a banner on a famous building, somebody else gets upset about it, and then everybody argues about what love really means.
But didn’t Calvary settled the definition once and for all?
Love isn’t the one who feeds me only when it’s convenient.
It’s the one who gets up before daylight because I need to go outside.
Love isn’t just telling me I’m a good boy.
It’s gently correcting me when I decide that a pair of socks looks like a chew toy.
Love isn’t walking away when I get old, gray around the muzzle, and a little slower climbing the porch steps.
Love keeps walking beside me… just at my pace.
I’ve watched my human love other humans that way too.
I’ve seen him forgive when it would’ve been easier to stay mad.
I’ve watched him pray for folks who weren’t always kind to him.
I’ve seen him sit beside hospital beds, hold a hurting hand, and show up when nobody else did.
That’s a different kind of love than the world talks about.
The world often says love is about feelings.
Jesus said love is about sacrifice.
The world says love is finding yourself.
Jesus says love is denying yourself.
The world changes its definition every few years.
Jesus settled it forever on an old rugged cross.
I wag my tail because my bowl gets filled.
Jesus stretched out His arms because our hearts were empty.
One is appreciation.
The other is redemption.
That’s real love.
So while the headlines keep changing and the television keeps trying to redefine what love looks like, I’ll keep watching my human.
When he looks the most like Jesus, I see love that’s patient, truthful, forgiving, and willing to put someone else first.
If this old dog has learned anything lying at the feet of his human, it’s this:
Real love doesn’t wave from the top of a famous building.
It knelt with a towel.
It carried a cross.
And it opens its arms to anyone willing to come home.
The greatest love the world’s ever known wasn’t hanging from a skyscraper.
It was hanging on a cross.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I think my human could use somebody to remind him what faithful love looks like.
That’s a job a good dog never gets tired of.
Keep the Faith… Carpe Diem
