The Most Powerful Force on Earth

As I have gone about my business this week, I've become increasingly aware of how we treat each other.  You see, right now I am preaching on love, so it's made me keenly aware of my own and others' interactions as I go through my week.  The scriptures are pretty clear about this whole love thing.  First, in the Old Testament, it says to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and strength.  (Deuteronomy 6: 5) And when Jesus is asked what is the greatest commandment, he replies with the one I've just quoted, and then adds, " love your neighbor as you love yourself. " (Matthew 22: 37)
Those are the easy ones to remember, and everyone can agree they're pretty good ideas.  But God gets more specific, and demands much more of us as we love our neighbor.  First Corinthians 13 is the scripture that most people recognize as "the love chapter."  It says, "Love is patient and kind.  Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude.  Love does not demand its own way.  Love is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged.  Love does not rejoice about injustice by rejoices whenever the truth wins out.  Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.  Three things will last forever- faith, hope, and love -and the greatest of these is love." This tells us to be patient and kind.  Easy to say, hard to do.  The very day I preached on patience, I suddenly had to be very patient myself.  Someone hurt my feelings, and I had to not respond in anger.  My family put extra demands on me all of a sudden, and I had to take it all in stride.  In the big and in the small, life experiences require us to face trials, temptations, challenges and other obstacles.  God requires us to meet each of those with patience and kindness.  It doesn't talk anywhere about our rights, our feelings, or our desires.  Those we take to God, and leave them in his hands.  God handles things so much better than we do!  If we employ patience and kindness, then God will give us the words to say and the way to react to each situation in life.
Then there is Romans 12.  " Don't just pretend to love others.  Really love them.  Hate what is wrong.  Hold tightly to what is good.  Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other." (Romans 12: 9-10) So we can't just smile and walk by.  We have to really care.  We have to show a genuine affection to everyone!  That takes a lot of work.  Who can do all that and do all that we do, too?  We're so busy we can't possibly adding anything else to our plate, RIGHT?  WRONG! !  The first thing we should add to our plates above all else is love.  It's only through patience and kindness that we can survive our busy lives.  Love will make people more eager to help us.  Love will make it easier to reach out to others.  Love helps us to prioritize what's important on our to do list.  Love brings us back home at the end of that day, with a sense of accomplishment, peace, and rest.
Walking in love is difficult, but not impossible.  And it is truly the greatest power on earth.  Romans 8:38 tells us that:

And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love.  Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today or our worries about tomorrow - not even the powers of hell can separate us from God's love.

I don't know about you, but I'm thinking I want love on my side!