Do we suffer from S.A.D.?

The word love is thrown around in our society so much that it has nearly lost it's meaning. Love in our culture has come to stand for a touchy-feely emotional response to others. Love is goosebumps, mushy-gushy feelings and then when our expectations go unmet we have no room to love anymore. This is not the kind of love that the Bible speaks to when it tells us to love God and love our neighbor.

One of the reasons the church is ineffective in permeating our culture is because we suffer from S.A.D. or Selective Affection Disorder. We rarely love the way God desires us to love. Love as defined by Scripture is one directional toward someone not dependent upon how that person makes me feel. Love is patient and kind, and seeks to be at peace with others. We simply do not love this way. We are selective in who we love. We seem to only love others who agree with our theology, look like us, enjoy what we enjoy, and see life as we see it. But that my friends is not true love.

John says that the world will know we are Christians when they see our love, one for another. If we truly want to impact our society for Christ we must love in spite of differences we may have. We must strive for unity and major on what's major. God demonstrated his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for the ungodly. I rarely think I emit that kind of love for others though I should. Why not? Because we have yet to truly love God. The only way to love others the way Christ has commanded us is to love him more. Only when we get our vertical love right can we love horizontally. We will begin to love others when we give ourselves completely to God. The more we love God, the more love will flow from us to others. We can't forgive others until we realize how much God has forgiven us, we can't show mercy to others until we see how much God has had mercy on us.

Love comes from God for He is love. If love for God doesn't govern and motivate your choices to love others it will always be mere sentiment with wrong motives. A deep love for God will produce the overflow needed to love others. Lord help us see that you are so worthy of our love and adoration.